Three pieces of bad news from the National Bank of Romania

The Government should have clear results in the field of budgetary restructuring before talking about salary raises in 2011. The warning comes from National Bank of Romania Governor Mugur Isarescu, who believes that any announcements regarding a proposed salary raise in the budgetary sector next year is premature. "The more severe the adjustment will be as regards the number of state employees involved, the wider the field of action will be. First we have to do the things, then talk ", said Mugur Isarescu on Friday, during a presentation on the Inflation Report.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Emil Boc stated that state employee salaries would go up an average of 10% next year, as compared to July's post-25% cut levels. National Bank of Romania Governor Mugur Isarescu believes that Romanians are going to fare worse on account of the rise in inflation following the raising of VAT, but he also spoke of a step by step improvement of living standards, even though it is delayed. "We're not going to go into the unemployment figures or living standards, but the trend is one of delayed recovery, but step by step recovery nonetheless. I don't see any worsening of unemployment. Standards of living are suffering mainly because of the high inflation", stated Mugur Isarescu.

Gandul