Romanian Retirees End Protest At Presidential Palace Two Hours Later Than Planned

Retirees called for the resignation of President Traian Basescu who last week announced a plan of austerity measures, including pension cuts and salary cuts in the public sector, to avoid raising main taxes.

Romania has about 1.4 million state employees and about 5.5 million retirees.

Similar protests were staged by thousands of other retirees across the country’s major cities.

The International Monetary Fund said it recommended a series of „balanced” measures to lower Romania’s growing budget deficit, but the authorities in Bucharest decided to rely almost entirely on public spending cuts.

Recession-hit Romania, which is relying on a EUR20 billion IMF-led loan, has pledged to drastically cut public spending and reign in this year’s budget deficit to 6.8% of GDP. Cuts include a 25% reduction of public sector salaries and 15% of pensions, unemployment and other social benefits, as well as massive subsidy cuts.

Romania’s first quarter gross domestic product shrank by 0.3% in real terms compared with the earlier quarter, a flash estimate of the National Statistics Institute showed Wednesday, which means the country is still in recession.

Unions have threatened Greek-style protests over the austerity plan and an ample protest of about 40,000 people will take place in Bucharest next week, on May 19, and teachers are set to go on full-blown strike as of May 31, boycotting national tests and threatening to freeze the school year.