Romania's government decided to tax meal tickets. Elsewhere in the news, state employees with lavishing salaries escape the salary cut. Last but not least, journalists vs. Romania at CEDO.
Romania's government decided to tax meal tickets, Adevarul informs. It's part of the austerity measures included in the Agreement supplementary Memorandum Romania sealed with the IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank, which is due to come into force on June 1. Capital gains, including interests for bank deposits and compensation payments, are to be taxed as well.
Another measure Romania and the IMF agreed upon was to start taxing IT programmers for their salary. Plus, the social contributions, including pensions and unemployment benefits, will be 15% lower from June 1. Part of the measures will be enforced before the third EU instalment is released. The memorandum also entails measures already announced by President Basescu last week, namely a 25% cut in salaries, including bonuses and other salary incomes for everyone working in the public sector.
The 13th salary is to be dismissed as well. In order to receive the fourth instalment from the European Commission, the government needs to show progress in implementing the 2010 budget, which aims for a 7% budget deficit target, reducing transfers to local authorities and cutting heating subventions. The President engaged to have all monitored companies reducing their debts by 2.5% per quarter. Plus, the salaries' fund for the state sector is to be reduced in 2011 by sacking 70,000 people, so that the number of people the budget would have to support by the beginning of next year would count 1.29 million employees.
Meanwhile, state employees with lavishing salaries escape the salary cut, with the Government "asking" them to not take away all their money, Gandul reads. Officially, staff
