“Social genocide,” cried the opposition Social Democrats on June 15 when Prime Minister Emil Boc’s government pushed through its budgetary reforms. No segment of society will be left unscathed. Public sector wages will be slashed by 25 per cent and according to the IMF approximately 250,000 public sector jobs will disappear. A painful loss in a country where one-third of the work force is employed by the public sector. The original plan also included reducing pension payments by 15 per cent. However, on June 25 the Constitutional Court squashed this measure, declaring it unconstitutional. Many hailed the court’s decisions as a victory for the thousands of angry citizens who have been protesting throughout May and June. But celebrations were short lived, in the end pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union won out. The next day, June 26, the government announced that starting July 1, 2010, the VAT would be raised from 19 to 24 per cent. The government was told to cut the deficit down to 6.8 per cent or wave bye bye to the next installment of aid worth €20 billion. The money is badly needed as the Romanian economy shrank by seven per cent last year.
Cosa fa VITA?
Da 30 anni VITA è la testata di riferimento dell’innovazione sociale, dell’attivismo civico e del Terzo settore. Siamo un’impresa sociale senza scopo di lucro: raccontiamo storie, promuoviamo campagne, interpelliamo le imprese, la politica e le istituzioni per promuovere i valori dell’interesse generale e del bene comune. Se riusciamo a farlo è grazie a chi decide di sostenerci.