PM says Romanian state needs overhaul

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc underscored the need for an overhaul of the Romanian state institutions, criticising politicians for 'staying captive to populist policies,' during a meeting on Tuesday with representatives of the World Bank. 'The Romanian state has to undergo a profound change, not just mere face-lifting. The Romanian Government has started a program of sweeping reform that comes after 20 years of policies that were not correlated,' Boc told the opening of a conference at the Government House in Bucharest that analysed the functioning of the Romanian public administration. He mentioned a raft of strategic principles for the reform started by the Government, including accountability, which he said is reflected in a new public pension law, under which special and service pensions are recalculated. 'Because of some policies that were promoted and are promoted we were compelled to make decisions by which privileged social categories were extended advantages to the disadvantage of other groups,' said Boc. AGERPRES