New social measures

Pensioners with low incomes to receive state aid.

Ştefan Stoica, 03.06.2022, 13:50

3.3 million low-income
pensioners will benefit from state aid to cope with recent price
hikes, according to a government decision. Next month, people with
pensions below 2,000 lei (the equivalent of 400 euros), will receive
benefits in the form of a single payment of around 140 euros. State
secretary Cristian Vasilcoiu says
the measure will account for 2% of the total pension budget for this
year. He explained:

The government has adopted
an emergency order providing for a single payment of 700 lei in July
for all pensioners with incomes below 2,000 lei, benefiting both
public sector pensioners and pensioners with state army pensions,
veterans, survivors, spouses, people who were subject to ethnic and
political persecution and people who carried out forced labour during
the communist regime.

The government is also
considering increasing the value of meal vouchers, a decision which
requires, however, the political backing of the ruling coalition
formed by the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and
the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians.

The Save Romania Union in
opposition says the government took too long to take these measures
and that it’s too little anyway to cover the needs of low-income
pensioners. The Union calls for a reduction in
public spending, granting aid to the most vulnerable categories
and VAT cuts for
energy. The coordinator of the Save Romania Union’s department for
public policies,
Cristian Ghinea:

It’s an insult for
people, given the
inflation rate, the increase in all prices, for
the government to be so slow to act and offer such ridiculously
small amounts,
and they’re not even
guaranteed. We are again calling for a reduction in
public spending and social measures targeted to the people who need
them, as well as effective measures to bring down the prices. The
best way to cut the energy price is to lower the VAT, something we
proposed as early as last autumn, because most of these increases go
to the state in the form of tax and the state can simply let the
people have the money instead so that we are all a little less
affected by the rise in energy prices.

Other social and economic
measures are also coming into force on 1st
July, such as the postponement for nine months of bank rates for
citizens and companies in financial difficulty as a result of recent
crises. On the other hand, commentators are wondering how long will
Romania be able to cope under the pressure of the budget deficit and
large government debt. The government has promised, however, that it
will take measures to ensure fiscal consolidation and compliance with
its budget deficit commitments. (CM)