PSD's Teodorovici: PSD's objective by 2020 of increasing salaries by 100 lei could be achieved by decreasing contributions

Social Democratic Party (PSD) executive chair Eugen Teodorovici stated on Friday in Timisoara that the increase of salaries by 100 lei was of one of PSD's objectives by 2020 and it could be achieved by decreasing contributions. 

"Mrs Viorica Dancila said we promised in the governing programme to increase salaries by 100 lei. We will make a [government] decision, we will inform the ministries and we wait for the Ministry of Justice to say if we can do it. This measure generates a labour cost for the employers. However, we don't want its effect to rest with the employer, but switch to the decrease of contributions. For us [PSD], this is one of the objectives we were supposed to meet by 2020, namely to drop the contributions, so that the employee and the employer could both win. Our Liberal colleagues said they would bring the money to the budget from the grey and black area," said Teodorovici. 

In answering a question from journalists, the outgoing minister added that the 30-40 per cent estimated for the "grey economy" is not necessarily a realistic one, as long as, in the European states, Romania included, "the Commission takes into account an unpaid VAT for the products in households. But if we eliminate these products, then Romania is not on the same spot in the ranking." 

Eugen Teodorovici mentioned that a similar situation is to be found in relation to the figures representing school dropouts in Romania. 

"We are at 17 per cent compared with 12 per cent the European average, in the context in which many Romanian children are abroad, with their parents and go to school there," specified Eugen Teodorovici.