Pension budget runs 1bn-euro deficit after five months

The state social security budget is running a 4.1 billion-RON
(almost 1 billion-euro) deficit five months into this year, with
the medium and long-term sustainability of the pension system
becoming increasingly uncertain if the economy does not recover and
the system is not reformed.
The situation appears to be under control if we look at the
budget execution at the end of May, where the social security
budget is running a slight surplus, of 89.3 billion RON. But the
pension budget was once again saved by the state budget, with the
surplus coming from a 4.23 billion-RON (around 1 billion-euro)
transfer from the state budget.
The social security budget has been recording chronic annual
deficits since 2006, with last year seeing the highest deficit in
10 years, of around 6.3 billion RON (1.5 billion euros), accounting
for 15% of annual pension spending.
With around 5.7 million pensioners in total, the number of
contributors is 4.9 million. Under the circumstances, the ratio is
0.8 payers to 1 beneficiary, compared with 1990, when there were
2.2 payers per 1 beneficiary.