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Raising pensions by the rate of inflation would mean an extra 5.1 - 5.2 percent, because according to the legal provisions, we must refer to the inflation of 2021, and this would be too little, therefore our proposal is an increase by at least 10 percent starting January 1. This increase should also be sustainable from the budgetary point of view, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marius Budai declared in an interview for AGERPRES.
Increasing pensions by at least 10 percent beginning with January 1 was agreed upon in the governing coalition, said Budai, adding that "our proposal to raise pensions by at least 10 percent is very well grounded. The impact is 11 billion RON and doesn't cause problems with the excessive deficit procedure."
The LabMin emphasized that the authorities are scrambling to increase the purchasing power, noting that there's "a very, very big difference" between defending the purchasing power and increasing it.
Also, the Minister specified that job creation is the main target of the institution under his conduct and that everyone able to work must get training and career counseling, so that they have a profession and get employment.
"I don't believe in a family that relies only on children's allowances for a living," Budai pointed out.
Marius Budai said that in the period 2017, 2018, 2019, the Labor Ministry managed to get more than 1,000,000 citizens out of severe material deprivation.
Now, he remarks, after the outbreak of the war, "we were compelled to repeatedly implement social packages and economic support measures".
Commenting on the trade unions' demand for social dialogue legislation, the Labor Minister declared that a new law on social dialogue will be approved by December 31.
Marius Budai also addressed the topic of part-time contracts and the government's decision to tax these employees like full-time contracts, saying that "since the moment we introduced this measure, over 150,000 contracts have been converted from part-time into full-time contracts, and the number of employment contracts has since increased. I'll give you some figures. For instance, we had 6.6 million contracts in Romania, now we have 43,000 more contracts, plus those over 150,000 contracts that switched to full-time," Marius Budai said.
Referring to a potential rise in undocumented work in the event of a recession, the Minister said that he "has demanded from the technical inspection zero tolerance for such aspects. Of course, without abuses." AGERPRES
