We are increasing the pensions by 10%

PSD’s proposal to the governing Coalition was to increase the pensions by at least 10% starting from 1st of January 2023. This increase is higher that the statutory obligation to increase the pension reference point by 5.1% (respectively in correlation with the inflation rate in 2021).

Thus, the pension reference point is to increase from the current value of 1,586 RON  to 1,745 RON starting from 1st of January 2023. Number of beneficiaries: 4.8 million retired persons.

Also, the minimum pension (social benefit) reference point is to increase from the current value of 1,000 RON  to 1,100 RON starting from 1st of January 2023.  Number of beneficiaries: 1.3 million retired persons. We must specify that this minimum pension is not provided to those who have not worked during their active life, as some mistakenly state. The beneficiaries of such a minimum pension must have more than 15 years of service and usually these are persons who have been disadvantaged by certain regulations that the state has imposed during their activity.

The PSD proposal is substantiated by a sound economic analysis which includes the budgetary impact and the sources of funding to support such a measure.

Budgetary impact: +11 billion RON in 2023

Funding sources:

  1. Increasing the tax compliance for social contributions as a result of criminalization of tax evasion performed by employers who are retaining such amounts from their employees’ wages and fail to forward them to the state budget.
  2. Increasing revenues from contributions to the pension budget as a result of taxation measures delivered by the Government on 1st of July.
  3. Increasing the revenues from contributions as a result of increasing the minimum wage and the other wages that would increase accordingly.
  4. Increasing the revenues from social contributions as a result of increasing the number of jobs as a result of the measure taken in order for SMEs to have at least one full-time employee. 

Increasing the revenues from social contributions as a result of the new jobs created though state aid schemes for companies and through public investments.