Social Democratic Party (PSD) chair Marcel Ciolacu on Tuesday said that the ruling coalition reached an agreement on the budget envelope for pensions, which should account for at least 15 billion RON, told Agerpres.
"We came to a conclusion that a 15 billion RON package is what we need. Just like when we entered the government, we will come with a social package, with a very clear economic package for next year and we are not talking here only of pensions. (...) The first thing we wanted to do was to close the energy chapter, which we did, as far as I understood, we closed this chapter tonight, and by that I mean that we agreed on the budget rectification in that sector. After all, at this point we are actually building the budget for next year. We agreed that the pensions envelope will be 15pct, i.e. at least 15 billion RON. Of this, an amount that we will agree on next in the coalition will be for increasing the pension point, because we are not allowed to operate differentiated increases - I saw the news that said Ciuca contradicts Ciolacu, but no, we speak the same language - and there will also be an amount that will come one off for those with low incomes, as we are trying to cover these gaps, for a certain period, until we have the pension law," Ciolacu told private broadcaster Romania TV.
He also said that thresholds and amounts in this regard must also be established in the coalition.
On the same occasion, Marcel Ciolacu announced that there will be a meeting on Wednesday where it will be decided to increase the minimum salary up to 3,000 RON.