Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said it is „common sense” that everyone – each ministry and authority – should contribute to efforts to reduce expenditure, noting that „nothing will happen” if, as of 1 January, there are fewer decentralised services, fewer directors, and if MPs’ lump-sum allowance is cut by 10%.

According to Bolojan, the Defence and Internal Affairs ministries must also review their spending and reduce it as far as possible, without affecting the country’s defence and public order capacity.

He added that these reductions do not apply to institutions that have already made such cuts, mentioning the education sector and the Senate.

„At central level, each ministry, each authority must be analysed. There are ministries with many decentralised county-level services, therefore with many directors in each county. One of these ministries is the Ministry of Agriculture. Nothing will happen if, as of 1 January, there are far fewer decentralised services, fewer directors, fewer deputy directors, and I am convinced it will be clear that nothing happens,” Bolojan said on Thursday on Digi 24, referring to the 10% staff expenditure cuts in central administration.

Asked whether these reductions will be applied in education as well, the prime minister said that „those that have already made this effort should not, logically, be put under additional pressure again, and education – through the measures that were adopted, including the increase in teaching hours – has been part of this effort.”

„I was mentioned by Senate staff at the beginning of the year when I took those measures, but if the Senate made a 20% cut, it seems to me common sense that, if they have already done it this year and it is proven through budget expenditure – because at the first budget revision we made, the Senate had a surplus and we took the money and redirected it elsewhere – they should not have to contribute again to further cuts,” Bolojan added.

The prime minister also referred to MPs, noting that nothing would happen if their lump-sum allowance were reduced by 10%.

„If people see that everyone is part of these savings – starting with those who are better positioned and bear greater responsibility, such as us who hold public office – Romanians will probably accept the situation more easily and say: this is the situation, but at least we are all part of the effort,” the prime minister said.

Bolojan added that calculations must be made as accurately as possible, noting that there are ministries where staff cannot be reduced – such as Defence and the Internal Affairs – but these can still optimise their expenditure.

„The Ministry of Defence must also review its expenditure and reduce it as far as possible without affecting our defence capacity, and the Ministry of the Internal Affairs without affecting public order capacity and without disrupting all staff,” Bolojan said.

According to him, if the national police, local police and Gendarmerie had a single dispatch centre, savings could be made and the shortfall of officers on the streets could be covered.

„I gave an example in an area I know very well. To monitor cities and ensure safer cities in Romania, there are camera systems in every city. If they were all brought into a single dispatch centre, then the national police – which today has its own dispatch centre, the municipal police dispatch centre, the Gendarmerie dispatch centre, and town halls have the local police dispatch centre – could have a single dispatch centre. Today we have between 4,000 and 5,000 people working in dispatch centres in Romania. If they all moved into a single dispatch centre, intervention efficiency would increase. The exact crew needed would be sent to an incident happening somewhere in a district. Today you do not know whether two crews are going or none, because you do not know where people call and whether the centres coordinate. Efficiency is much higher, and the people freed from dispatch duties in the Gendarmerie, national police and local police would go out on the streets, and in this way we generate savings,” Ilie Bolojan explained.

He added that this would not necessarily require dismissals.

„You do not hire more staff; you optimise. This is what we need to do everywhere because otherwise we are borrowing money at interest rates that are too high for Romania’s situation and, instead of seeing motorways, national roads or better schools, we end up paying interest,” Bolojan said. AGERPRES