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A number of 404,904 employees in Bucharest received furlough benefits paid by the National Employment Agency (ANOFM) under the coronavirus lockdown in Romania, according to a report on the management of public resources under the lockdown commissioned by Parliament, drawn up by the Court of Auditors and released on Tuesday.
The Court of Auditors cites in its report data on the number of beneficiaries of this benefit published by the National Employment Agency and information on the amounts paid as of June 15.
"Most of the employees whose individual employment contract was suspended at the initiative of the employer and who benefited from the benefits paid from the unemployment insurance budget were in the Bucharest-Ilfov region (470,827), making up 23% of the total, and the Nord-Vest region (324,903 beneficiaries - 16% of the total). At the level of the component counties of these regions, most beneficiaries were in Bucharest (404,904) and Cluj (110,205)," according to the report.
The Court of Auditors says the large number of applications and beneficiaries in the Bucharest-Ilfov region is explained by the fact that economic activity is concentrated mainly in Bucharest and Ilfov County, together with the two administrative-territorial units forming the largest industrial hub in the country where the gross domestic product is about twice the national average.
The total amount paid by ANOFM to the Bucharest employees in furlough benefits under the COVID-19 lockdown was 600,844,000 lei, according to the same report of the Court of Auditors.
"At the level of development regions, the highest volume of payments was reported in the Bucharest-Ilfov region (702,718 thousand lei) for 470,827 beneficiaries, with the Bucharest City recording the highest payments (600,844 thousand lei, 86% of the total region and 20% of the national total)."
According to ANOFM figures audited by the Court of Auditors, the number of applications submitted by employers in the Bucharest-Ilfov region for furlough pay for their employees for the lockdown amounts to 40,810.
