Pogea: Massive layoffs by June 2010, unpaid leaves for budgetaries

Pogea: Massive layoffs by June 2010, unpaid leaves for budgetaries

The Romanian finance minister Gheorghe Pogea presented, on Tuesday, the conclusions of IMF mission in Romania, during a press conference.

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He stated, that, although Romania’s letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund does not contain any figures regarding future staff cuts, the country’s commitment to cut spending by 0.6% of GDP entails massive layoffs by June 2010.

"I assure you that Romania will operate massive layoffs until June 2010, considering its commitment to cut costs by 0.6% of the GDP (gross domestic product). I am not talking about 1,000-2,000 employees," said Pogea, when asked whether the Romanian and IMF officials agreed on the exact number of employees to be laid off.

Government sources said one of the measures discussed by the government and IMF officials also targeted the layoff of 100,000-150,000 state employees until the middle of next year.

Budgets of the state companies should be approved within 15 days from the Parliament's budget approval.