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Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu on Thursday evening told the Romania TV private broadcaster that a reform must be made in the budgetary system, considering, among other things, that our country has the most credit authorising officers in the world - about 16,000, but stressed that "no salary will be cut in Romania" due to these changes.
"This reform had to be done for a very long time. I understood that no one assumed it. (...) You have the dupe on duty who takes on this reform. I can no longer accept that there are parallel institutions and, when you have crises, such as the crisis with the elders homes of horror, to find that five institutions had the same attributions and none of them did anything and they were trampling on their feet (...) There will be no salary cut in Romania, but neither can I accept to go to work, to be boss over some empty, vacant positions. (...) The vast majority, over 70 pct, are budgeted. I cannot accept that a credit authorising officer should come to his boss, to the director, and say: 'sir', he has made extraordinary savings on the budget envelope, on salary expenses'. In fact, he didn't save any money ... and say, 'Mr. Director, since we did this economy - which we didn't - let's divide it at the end of the year, let it be the bonus.' It's over, I can't accept a budget worker who earns over 2,000 euros (per month, ed. n.), me, Marcel Ciolacu to run him around the office, to ask him to take holiday vouchers. Holiday vouchers are for those with low incomes, there must be social equity," Marcel Ciolacu said.
He added that Romania has the most credit authorising officers in the world, namely 16,000, and stressed that they should be put together where this could be done and do their job. He also said that no theatre will be abolished in Romania, as some news have said these days, no libraries either.
"No more can the state support (...) when you have some alarm signals, after the pandemic, after loans of 200 billion, after an external debt of almost 50 pct (of GDP, ed. n.), started from PSD (Social Democratic Party, ed. n.) of 35 pct , we have to be fair, because I can't settle myself. You had a budget deficit of 9.4 pct, left by the PSD at 2.7 pct. (...) I don't love the liberals and I'm firmly convinced that the liberals don't love me either, but at this moment we have to rise to the level expected by the Romanians. We are responsible people, we have the duty as politicians to rise to the level of statesmen and make the right decisions for Romania and for the Romanians," declared prime minister Ciolacu.
He emphasized that, from his point of view, Romania must not miss the "last train" to develop, because there are challenges that we have to understand, that it is Romania's last train to join the OECD and these things are "more important than Marcel Ciolacu, than Nicolae Ciuca, than PSD, than PNL, there are things that concern the future of Romania and Romanians."
"It is the last development train for Romania within the European Union, with Romania's security ensured by NATO membership," prime minister Marcel Ciolacu concluded.
