On Monday, Romania will stop. If the unions fail to repeat the success of the demonstration on May 19 in Bucharest, the largest mobilization since the Revolution of '89, May 31 the country will be paralyzed. Schools will be closed. It will block the transport. Hospitals will ensure only emergency admissions.
Romanians protest against the plan of "tears and blood" to the Government. Drastic measures that provide, among other things, the 25% cut in salaries for civil servants and 15% of pensions and subsidies, in addition to the dismissal of 70 000 state, equal to 5% of the workforce employed in administrative subnet. The move is among the most painful of all those approved by European governments in recent weeks. But according to the prime minister of the Liberal Democratic Party Emil Boc is necessary to bring the deficit under control. The savings on government expenditure in this way were obtained, would, in fact, bring down the deficit from 9% of GDP to 6.8%. Requirement as requested precondition the International Monetary Fund to release a new tranche of funding (850 million euro), without which Romania is on track to bankruptcy.
care horse but could save the state budgets from Greece Syndrome but at the same time to break the country already devastated by an economic crisis here that has not spared some blows. The gross domestic product has grown from a +7.1% in 2008 to -7.2% in 2009. A collapse that left on the table so many victims, especially among workers in manufacturing, in particular workers, but also small business owners, especially those in the construction industry, which had taken advantage of the "mania cement "of past years. Unemployment, which in the most productive areas of the country - Bucharest and the western provinces - had almost disappeared in the past decade - and has returned to rise due to continued layoffs earlier this year has reached about 10% of the workforce, corresponding to almost one million people.
So after the workers who have already paid a private account salty, now it's up to employees of public sector teachers, railway workers, employees of public companies. But the government's plan not like it, actually, to anyone. All in the family have at least one person who will be directly affected by the cuts: the retired grandmother with the minimum 400 lei (100 euro), already struggling to survive, which Aunt teacher with 800 lei (200 euro) per month, supported himself with odd jobs only in black. This is why the unions on May 19 had no difficulty in bringing in Bucharest under the windows of the palace of the government demonstrators 50,000 (the Gendarmerie has actually talked to 30 thousand). So much crowd in Piata Victoriei not seen since the days of Ceausescu's deposition. The blame is the scissor kick undifferentiated gradually without affecting the payroll clerk as the last of the executive government, which can get to earn five times as much. In fact a greater social equity in the operation, he also asked the Director of the IMF, Dominque Strauss-Khan, who in recent days, while stressing the need to replace the public accounts, has suggested a recipe not only made of soft cuts spending but also increased taxes on higher rediti now much favored by a taxation system that is based on a "flat tax" of 16%, then only one rate for everyone.
However, the proposal to revise the tax was rejected in no uncertain terms. "It's not the best choice to solve the problem," said President Traian Basescu. "If mantenessimo unchanged public spending, This year we will need an increase of 21% of GDP to cover it. " A percentage never reached even in more prosperous times after the scheme.
The orientation of the government was significantly summarized by the Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu a joke: "Rich people are taking risks, innovating, and that, ultimately, create wealth for redistribution." The path for the salvation of Romania is so close. O the bitter cup of the cuts. Either the default state. In between is, however, a social crisis that threatens to explode.
Published in Future, May 30, 2010
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