The PSD, PNL and UDMR are meeting on Monday at a meeting of the government coalition to decide how pensions will be increased and what assistance will be given to the vulnerable during the winter period. The liberals want a non-differentiated indexation of the pension score by 15% with a budget impact of 18 billion lei. On the other hand, PSD wants a differentiated increase in pensioners’ incomes.

It will be recalled that the leaders of the Coalition have been discussing the topic of increasing pensions since the beginning of November and were unable to reach a consensus. The Social Democrats demanded a 10% increase, while the Liberals pushed for 15%.

Last week, after a meeting of the National Standing Bureau, the Liberals announced a decision to offer the Coalition two options for increasing pensions. The first option involves a gradual increase of certain categories of pensions, the second – a 15% increase of all pensions.

• Alina Gorghiu: “We want the pension score to increase to cover the level of inflation, we want this increase to ensure the purchasing power of pensioners. Both the Prime Minister and myself and our colleagues are very concerned about how this will be resolved. to convince our colleagues that pensions should be increased in – as high a percentage as possible. Arguments (…) are discussed: the inflation rate is around 15 percent and has affected the purchasing power of pensioners. 6.1% was spread – last year’s inflation, but on January 1, 2023, of course, the percentage by which the pension point will increase will be higher than last year’s inflation rate.(…) Liberal specialists’ calculations show that an increase in the pension point by 15 % will not affect the budget deficit”.

PSD proposed an increase of 10% plus small pensions of 1,500 lei and with the possibility of providing some social assistance within three months for all vulnerable categories.

The president of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Čolaku, spoke about the importance of “social justice” in a “difficult period”, saying that as a Social Democratic leader he could not accept that the pension of 1,800 lei be increased by 270 lei, and the pension of 18,000 lei to increase by 2,700 lei, i.e. ten times more.

“I wanted a broader, mature and professional discussion. I stayed at the level of the discussion about percentages: 15, 16, 10. I represent the Social Democratic Party. I’m sorry, I have a different approach. I can’t take it as a pension of 1,800 lei will increase by 270 lei, and the pension of 18,000 lei will increase by 2,700 lei, more precisely ten times compared to someone who has a pension of 1,800 lei. to go through this difficult period without much effort. It is very simple to make, as in the time of Ceausescu, a one-time payment and put everyone on an equal footing. This is wrong. I follow the doctrine represented by the PSD. I have an obligation as a PSD leader to take care of those who have an income, for example, below 4,000 lei. We all have to go through this difficult period . This is called social justice,” Cholaku said during a press conference.