Romania’s economy grew by over 2% in 2011 but the public sector has not been sufficiently restructured, Croitoru added.
He estimated Romania had a surplus of 400,000 to 500,000 state employees, of whom less than half were made redundant.
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Wednesday morning in an address to Parliament the ruling coalition and Government have the duty to restore public wages to the level before austerity cuts, as of June 1.
The Romanian Government in 2010 cut public wages by 25%, part of a harsh austerity plan meant to keep the country’s economy afloat during the economic crisis.
At the beginning of 2011, public wages were increased by 15% and an about 16% rise would be needed to restore the full wages.
A 16% direct wage rise would entail extra 3 billion lei (EUR689 million) for staff expenses in 2012.
If social security contributions paid by employees are cut by three percentage points, public wages would rise by about 4.5%. (EUR1=RON4.3558)