Asked whether the increase of salaries in the public sector would be an electoral risk or a gradual process of demand restoration, Isarescu said he would choose the latter, since electoral risks are part of a broader spectrum.
“It is my understanding that this budget recovery (…) will respect the budget targets agreed with the IMF. If this is so, then impact will be limited,” Isarescu said.
The budget target set by authorities for this year is 3% of the gross domestic product by European standards. At the end of February, the general budget had a deficit of 2.7 billion lei (EUR0.6 billion), representing 0.44% of the GDP.
People close to the matter told MEDIAFAX recently that Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu is planning to increase public sector wages. To this, Isarescu replied today that his concern is the increase of consumption, and wage setting is the government’s attribute.
In July 2010, public sector employees took a 25% cut in their pay. Last year, their salaries were raised by 15%. This means that full restoration of public sector salaries, to pre-crisis levels, would require an additional 16% increase.