10,000 state budget earners to lose jobs

This year the number of employees remunerated from the state budget will decrease with 3,000, in 2009 – also with 3,000, and in 2010 – 4,000 budget earners will remain jobless. Thus the Government tries to get rid of 10,000 employees it pays, what’s 4.2% of the total number, Info-Prim Neo reports. The layoffs are provided for by a Concept on optimising the number of budget personnel, approved of by the Government on Wednesday, February 28. Economy and commerce minister Igor Dodon specified the question was not only about public servants, an unavoidable process within the reform of the central public administration promoted by the Government. The number of employees will be reduced in all the institutions financed from the budget. As a result, some 218 mln. lei are to be saved: 60.3 mln. lei in 2008, 68.5 mln. lei in 2009 and 89.2 mln. lei in 2010. Together with other organisational optimisation measures, the move is expected to allow for maintaining the budget wages at the limit of 10% of the GDP. The government assumed this commitment in the Memorandum on financial and economic policies signed with the IMF. Moreover, the saved means will be used to implement the second stage of raising the budgetary remuneration. Dodon said the optimisations had already occurred in some subdivisions. For example, on the President’s proposal, the number of fiscal inspectors, environment inspectors and of other state controlling-agency employees has lowered by 10 per cent. Referring to other institutions, the Economy minister has said the ministries coordinating them are soon to come up with relevant proposals. The action plan on implementing the Concept provides for analysing the efficiency of the functional structure of the institutions funded from the state budget, before proceeding to layoffs.