Extra EUR 3 bln needed for pensions in 2011, says PM

Romania needs an extra EUR 3 billion to pay pensions in 2011, Prime Minister Emil Boc has said. The reform of the pensions system is a step forward in ensuring the system's fairness and sustainability, he has added. 'According to the form (of the pensions law - editor's note) adopted by the Parliament, we still need more than EUR 3 billion in 2011 to support the pensions payment, such as they are in the current law. If we chose another version, we would need EUR 5 billionin 2011, we would need an additional rise in the deficit. [...] We can have a populist approach, but if we want to be fair, if we want to be able to pay the pensions and the country to have some resources for development, we must accept this reform of the pensions system,” said Boc in a speech in the Deputies' Chamber. The pension law was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies last Wednesday with 170 votes in favor, two against and three abstentions, after ten hours of debates and in the absence of MPs from opposition parties (Social Democratic, Liberal and Conservative), who had walked out. After the Social Democratic Party threatened to challenge the law before the Constitutional Court and after the session leader was accused of deliberately increasing the number of votes in favor, the Chamber’s Standing Bureau announced Monday that it would retake the vote, if the plenum approves. AGERPRES