Pension fuss

-- Political leaders have been in competition making statements about the pension raise, each trying to show more concern about the Romanian retired.
PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu promised yesterday that the decision was irrevocable and he claimed it was not an electoral measure, especially that the governor of the National Bank of Romania came out to say it wouldn't cause inflation to grow. The PM also confessed he was thinking about settling a 90% competition for the medicine of the retired, even if the president of the Pharmacists Authority reminded him that the state had a 800 billion ROL debt to pay, because of having applied the same measure in 2004.
It was also yesterday that the President of Romania Traian Basescu announced he would promulgate the lying law only when it was usable financially. He expressed some questions for the PM. Mircea Geoana, leader of Romanian Social-Democrats, asked the President to promulgate the law "unhesitatingly". As for the Conservatives, they intend to go to Cotroceni Palace together with the representatives of the Romanian retired and ask for the same.
President Basescu's questionnaire
The President of Romania made a press statement yesterday evening and asked the PM some questions on the application of the new pension law, mentioning the issues raised would be part of a letter he would send the PM.
President Basescu claimed he wanted to know if there would be changes on the support funds the retired got to pay their heat bills and on those set for medicine. He argued: "So we give 50 RON to a retired Romanian and we cut his 80 RON support fund for heat. Pensions raise, but people don't get their medicine any more". He asked for precise estimation to look to 2011 and for an approximate one to reach 2013, a document to analyze whether the social state assurance budget was sustainable or not.
The President pointed to the "great" problem of the present law, outlining: "It leaves the poor in poverty and the ones enjoying large pensions get even larger ones." He commented: "It is one thing to apply 45% on 1 million ROL and it is something else to apply it on 10 millions. I think that, given the substantial budget effort, it is time for this effort to focus and help those on small pensions escape sheer poverty. I think there must be a balanced raise system instead of a linear one. "he added he wanted the financing for the pension raise to be certain, even if he had to return the draft to the Parliament.

Anca Hriban & Roxana Andronic
Ziua Miercuri 12 Iulie 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english