* Social Security Contributions to be reduced by 5 percentage points, the flat tax rate remains at 16%
* Update 12:26 Schaechter: "The authorities have clearly said that there are no intentions to raise the flat tax rate"
The head of the IMF mission, Andrea Schaechter, said that the options proposed by the experts of the Fund included the increasing the flat tax rate, but this issue was not negotiated from the beginning, because there was common knowledge that the Government did not support this measure.
"When talking to the authorities, including on the budget side, we conduct an assessment of the situation and we have every available option on the table. The authorities have however made it very clear that there is no intention to raise the flat tax rate, so no negotiations took place on that matter. Clearly, the authorities have identifies their priorities and these are the measures which have been announced yesterday", said Schaechter.
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The government has pledged to the international financial institutions to take 15% of Hidroelectrica public, and 51% of Electrica in May-June 2014, and a stake in the Oltenia Energy Complex in Q4 2014.
The minimum wage will increase from 800 to 850 lei, on January 1st, 2014, and from 850 to 900 lei, on July 1st, 2014, prime minister Victor Ponta announced yesterday. He also said that in next year's budget, a fund for increasing wages is stipulated, aimed at specific categories, and negotiations will continue for increasing the wages of resident doctors, debutant teachers, as well as other categories of employees. Also, all pensions will be raised by 3.76 percentage points.
The prime-minister admitted that the talks with the mission of the IMF were not easy, as extremely difficult issues were approached and difficult decisions concerning priorities.
For next year, a budget defici
