- BUCHAREST: Romania’s government says it has sent to Parliament the drafts of two wage laws needed to keep a bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
The government adopted the drafts late Wednesday, increasing public sector wages by 15 percent and the minimum wage from 600 lei (€139) to 670 lei (€156), from January 2011.
Prime Minister Emil Boc said that’s all Romania can afford during the crisis. The country pledged a budget deficit of 4.4 percent of gross domestic product next year.
In the summer, the government slashed public sector wages by one-fourth, triggering a series of protests.
Romania took a €20 billion ($26.67 billion) loan from the IMF, the European Union and World Bank last year, when its economy shrank by 7.1 percent.