Retirees’ association in Romania press for 40% pension hike

Several Romanian retirees' federations held a press conference on July 7, on the topic of possible non-compliance with the provisions of the law on increasing the pensions by 40% as of September.

Finance minister Florin Citu made clear a 10% hike is all the Government can afford.

Speaking for Radio Romania Actualitati (RRA), the president of the National Federation of Pensioners in Romania, Preda Nedelcu, spoke about the specific steps they are considering.

"We are addressing the court. We will organize protest actions in the capital city and the country. We will also address the international organizations of pensioners, informing what happens with the increase of our pensions. And yet it should be borne in mind that prices have risen. However, 10% is not even an increase. The Government should have given us this inflation adjustment since January 1," Preda said.

The solutions proposed by the representatives of the pensioners range from decent (but unrealistic) to unsustainable. The companies owe RON 18 billion (nearly EUR 4 billion) in unpaid social security contributions, they claim. This is a lot of money, but rather virtual since the debtors are mostly state-owned companies in dire financial situations.

Pensioners' representatives also proposed using the Forex reserve held by Romania's National Bank (BNR) and suspending the transfer of contributions to the Pillar 2 pension funds for a couple of years.

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