Basescu dismissed allegations that he is against the measure following media interpretations of his comments after a meeting with officials of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and World Bank.
Earlier Sunday, the president had said keeping social security fund and pension deficits at their current levels was crucial for the upcoming period and that he would have refused to send Parliament authorities’ new letter of intent to the IMF unless structural deficits for social security and pensions remained untouched.
Basescu explained in the news conference the planned raise in public wages does not affect any structural deficits and even helps lower the pension deficit.
“Raising, restoring public wages to pre-austerity levels does not widen any of the two deficits. On the contrary, it helps narrow these deficits because it is from wages that social security contributions are paid,” Basescu explained, adding the measure may also boost consumption slightly.