PSD's Ciolacu: If we were to believe President, gov't must double allowances, increase pensions by 40%

Acting national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu said on Tuesday that if President Klaus Iohannis' "triumphalist" announcement after the European Council meeting in Brussels were to be believed, the National Liberal Party (PNL) government "must" double child allowances and increase state pensions by 40%.

"If we were to believe the triumphant announcement of President Iohannis in Brussels, the PNL government must double the allowances and increase the pensions by 40%. It has no excuse! Make investments from European money and increase the purchasing power of the Romanians! I am waiting for [prime minister] Orban to tell the Romanians how much of this money is, in fact, loans and not non-reimbursable allocations, how much is for rapid economic recovery and how much is for the budget years 2021-2027," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.

President Klaus Iohannis announced on Tuesday that Romania will qualify for almost 80 billion euros for European projects, indicating the construction of hospitals, schools, the modernisation of large public systems, as well as economic recovery.

"After very complicated discussions, after very complicated negotiations, after four days and four nights of negotiations, we obtained an impressive amount for Romania - 79.9 billion euros for European projects; these are negotiations that now allow us to move to the next stage. We will use the 80 billion euros to rebuild Romania's infrastructure, to build hospitals, schools, to modernise the great public systems. It is also very important to know that a significant part of the money will be used for economic recovery," Iohannis said in Brussels at the end of a special European Council meeting.