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| LOANS AND PROTESTS 23/09/2010 |
| (2010-09-23) |
| Last updated: 2010-09-24 14:41 EET |
Under the circumstances, a new loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund is mandatory, and will most likely be signed in 2011, Traian Basescu also said. On the following day, prime minister Emil Boc announced publicly that talks between the Romanian authorities and International Monetary Fund officials would start in October. The format of the new agreement is to be decided by the government and the National Bank. One thing is certain, though, namely that the International Monetary Fund will no longer agree for the money lent to Romania to be used for pensions and salaries. Here is President Traian Basescu:
“The agreement with the Fund will be a reality. It is for the government and the National Bank to decide what type of agreement this will be, but we will certainly have a new agreement. We might have a financing agreement, though not very likely. What’s likely is that it will be a precautionary agreement under which we can call on the Fund in exceptional situations. Under no circumstance, however, will the International Monetary Fund agree to finance Romania’s state budget deficit.”
Regardless of the type of agreement signed with the Fund, it will be co-funded by the European Commission. According to Laurent Moulin, the head of the Commission’s unit for Romania, Poland, The Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Commission is pleased with the development of the assistance programme concluded with Romania. In 2009, Romania signed a loan agreement for approximately 20 billion euros with the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Laurent Moulin believes the Romanian economy is yet to achieve its potential, but is confident that Romania can reach a 3% economic growth in the following years, if reforms are implemented … and tolerated by the people, we might add.
Trade unions are showing increasing signs of impatience. Over 10,000 people shouted a loud boo to the government on Wednesday in central Bucharest and demanded to be given back the 25% of their wages they lost by a government decision. People also demanded for the government to stop lay-offs and amend the law on the single payment scheme. From New York, prime minister Boc told trade unions that the austerity measures are painful, but necessary. The government, says Emil Boc, is forced to correct the major and costly mistakes at the heart of the salary and pension systems and social assistance programmes, mistakes which encouraged a relaxed attitude towards work and led to the current structural deficits.
Newspapers in Bucharest note that, although Wednesday’ rally did not gather as many people as the organisers would have liked, people have become more radical. The participants scuffled with security forces, who used tear gas to get them to settle down. “Less people but tougher messages”, writes the daily paper Gandul. The pro-government publication Evenimentul Zilei believes the overestimation of the trade union movement and the credibility loss of a number of trade union leaders are the explanations for the people’s lack of solidarity and the futility of their protests. “The trade union protests failed because of the division among their leaders”, Romania Libera also writes.
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