When the self-proclaimed experts of the previous government presented the Europe Now program, they had only one message: we will increase salaries.
Salaries have increased. The question, however, is not whether you want to receive a higher salary, because there can be no dispute about that, and that is a deliberate simplification. The real issues that needed to be debated are whether we want to change the way we finance health care, how to obtain the missing funds, maintain fiscal stability, economic development, increase investment, reduce unemployment…
The far-reaching reforms implemented by the 42nd government required a social agreement, without reducing the whole process to the issue of increasing the minimum wage.
However, as everything comes to fruition, it has now been shown that there is a serious risk that certain revenue budget categories of the 2022 Budget are overestimated, which was confirmed by the IMF Report, that expenditures are underestimated, and that the total deficit in 2022 may significantly exceed the planned €265m.
The IMF predicts the amount of at least €321m.At the same time, the government is already facing additional demands to increase wages in the public sector, under the influence of equalization of wages for different levels of profession, education and police, as well as due to the salary increase in the health sector. Meeting these and similar requirements accelerates the spiral of increasing current mandatory spending.
