Romania Public Sector Shed 6,200 Staff In June

Around 6,200 employees in the public sector lost their jobs in June, the biggest monthly decrease in one year.

According to INS data, the decline continued trough July as well.

Romania, which turned to the International Monetary Fund and other lenders for financial aid to cope with the recession, had to enforce a series of austerity measures to try to boost revenue and reduce its ballooning deficit.

The measures included a 25% pay cut in the public sector and a 5-percentage-point increase in the sales tax to 24%.

In addition, the government has pledged to lay off 74,000 public staff by year-end and to fire at least 15,000 more in 2011. The authorities also committed to keep a freeze on pensions in place trough next year and to eliminate a series of wage bonuses and subsidies.