Government Could Pass Decree For Child Allowances Increase On Tuesday

The decree was initially proposed by Social Democrat Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea during budget debates on Thursday evening, after an opposition amendment increasing all state child allowances was surprisingly approved by lawmakers.

Following initial speculation that the allowance hike could be postponed by Government decree, the PSD leader announced that it will be included in the state budget bill, at the expense of increasing Romania’s budget deficit target from 2.55% to 2.76% of gross domestic product.

The combined chambers of the Romanian Parliament approved on Thursday a Liberal Party amendment to the 2019 budget bill which raises allowances for children aged 2-18 from RON84 to RON150 per month.

The amendment also increases allowances for children between one month and two years of age from RON200 to RON300 per month. The Labor Ministry’s budget will be supplemented with a total RON2.13 billion to amount for the increases.

The amendment was passed with 123 votes for and 119 against, after the ALDE group requested a second vote due to technical reasons.