Romania’s Government approved on August 26 the Emergency Ordinance that increases the wages in the healthcare system by 25%. The measure will come into force starting October 1, according to the executive.

The Government decided to increase the salaries in the healthcare system after thousands of doctors have threatened to start a general strike. Over 32,000 Romanian doctors have joined a Facebook group where they were discussing about a general strike due to the low salaries.

The measure will increase the Government’s annual expenses by some EUR 384 million. Ponta said that the necessary funds for this year, some EUR 96 million, were secured, reports local Wall-street.ro. About 224,000 employees in the public healthcare system would benefit from the wage increases.

Prime Minister Ponta said that a solution should also be found to increase the wages in education, as healthcare and education were two sectors of national importance that should be treated equally.

editor@romania-insider.com