Pensions Could Remain Frozen for the Third Year in a Row Due to Public Debt

Pensioners could be facing a third consecutive year without a pension increase, whilst prices continue to rise. The warning comes from the Ministry of Finance and is grounded in one clear reason: Romania's level of public debt.

According to the cited data, public debt has reached 60.01% of GDP. Projections indicate that this share will continue to grow, reaching 63.3% of GDP in 2027 and 63.9% of GDP in 2028.

What the law says about pensions in this context

As long as public debt remains above the 60% of GDP threshold, the Fiscal-Budgetary Responsibility Law does not permit the Government to approve measures that would lead to an increase in total personnel expenditure or social assistance expenditure — a category that includes pensions.

In practice, for as long as this indicator remains at its current level or continues to rise, as projections for 2027 and 2028 suggest, the authorities would have no legal basis to increase pensioners' incomes.