The government intends to introduce a “solidarity contribution” for civil servants with income higher than the salary of Romania’s President, with the difference to be taxed by 90 percent, according to Prime Minister Emil Boc. According to the Prime Minister, salaries in question exceed RON 8,000 (€1,890).
The amounts thus obtained will be used to raise the salaries of low-income public employees. Moreover, Boc indicated that the signing of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund will be immediately followed by government budgetary expenditure cuts by RON 4.53 billion (€1.07 bln), and revenues will be boosted by some RON 1.37 bln (€0.32 bln) in 2009.
Government sources, quoted by the Mediafax news agency, said that a budget correction was discussed in the government session, which would cut most funds from the Ministries of Environment, Tourism, Education, and Defense, and that the discussion was “very harsh.”
