Romania’s Proposed Fin Min Says State Budget Entails 100,000 Public Sector Job Cuts

"There is no such thing as 400,000 job cuts as rumored. According to the draft state budget, layoffs will affect less than 100,000 public sector workers. Much of this process will be achieved by not hiring more people to fill positions that become vacant," Vladescu said.

Vladescu is being heard Tuesday by the Parliament's committees for budget and finance.

Vladescu, an independent, has previously served as finance minister during the liberal government led by Calin Tariceanu.

Prime Minister-designate Emil Boc will seek Wednesday a confidence vote for a Cabinet of 15 ministers and a deputy prime minister.

Romania, which has been without a legitimate government since Boc's Cabinet collapsed in a no confidence vote in October, relies heavily on an IMF-led bailout loan of nearly EUR20 billion. The country needs to have a government to send Parliament next year's state budget for international financial institutions to unlock further loan disbursements.

The future government will also have to take unpopular measures such as laying off 100,000 public sector employees and reforming the country's public pension system, eliminating privileged pensions such as those of lawmakers, magistrates military, law enforcement and intelligence services staff.

Romania's jobless rate increased 0.4 percentage points on the month in November, to 7.5%, according to the country's employment agency ANOFM.

Romania's acting Finance Minister Gheorghe Pogea said at the end of August the government would cut 326,000 jobs in the public sector by 2015.

If you liked this story, please follow MEDIAFAX.RO on FACEBOOK »

The content of mediafax.ro is for your information only. Republishing or using this content is forbidden without express consent of MEDIAFAX. For this consent, please ask for it by mail at vanzari@mediafax.ro.