Florin Manole pledges pension indexation in 2027 but names no percentage

A pledge without a figure

Florin Manole, proposed to return as labour minister in the cabinet of Luca Niculescu, told Antena 3 CNN on Wednesday, 14 October, that pensions will be indexed. He declined to name a percentage, avoiding a figure when asked whether the increase would be 7%. He said pensions should rise as much as the budget allows, arguing that purchasing power has fallen and consumption has dropped. The amount, he said, depends on talks with Niculescu, the designated prime minister, and the proposed finance minister, Alexandru Nazare, while Romania keeps to its deficit target.

“Yes, pensions will certainly be indexed. I cannot tell you the figures.”

Manole said he did not expect Nazare to refuse, pointing to the 2026 budget, which already contains macroeconomic projections for GDP growth and for the sums paid on pensions and wages. He acknowledged that this year's economic contraction will weigh on the budget. He also said the Fiscal Council supports indexation, and that the partners in the coalition should not treat the commitments made to international creditors as a reason to block it.

Conditions and the finance ministry

Manole said the public funds in question do not belong to any single minister but to the public budget, and must be spent correctly. Asked whether he would step down if he did not receive money for indexation, he said he would leave the post. He added that PSD had made indexation a commitment of the party rather than of himself personally.

“If I don't get money for indexation, I'm leaving.”

Vouchers and child allowances

Energy vouchers run until the end of 2026, and Manole said a new support mechanism is needed. The World Bank asked for such a scheme in return for a loan on preferential terms, and Manole said the project is being prepared in the Labour Ministry and will respect the deficit targets. He said the new mechanism must be in place from 1 January 2027. Food vouchers, financed from EU funds and previously run through the Ministry of European Funds, are unlikely to return, since he does not believe money remains for them. He also said Romania had contracted and spent more on this type of aid than any other EU member state. Child allowances, frozen for two years, should not stay frozen, he said.

PSD's conditions and deadlines

PSD has set ten priorities for the Niculescu government, where the party will hold 11 ministers. Those priorities include indexing pensions, including military pensions and the minimum pension, and removing the health contribution (CASS) for mothers, war veterans and people with disabilities. Grindeanu said parliamentary support for the cabinet depends on meeting these promises. The government must present the real state of the budget deficit and all postponed debts by 1 November 2026, and the 2027 budget is due by 1 December. Grindeanu warned that PSD would then evaluate the cabinet after its first six months, and would withdraw support if it fails to deliver the indexation or introduces new taxes.

“PSD will evaluate the Niculescu government after its first six months of governance.”

Background to the cabinet

President Nicusor Dan designated Luca Niculescu, secretary of state at the foreign ministry and coordinator of Romania's OECD accession, on Monday evening, 5 October. Niculescu has 10 days to bring the list of ministers and the government programme to Parliament. He is the fourth prime minister nominated by the head of state in the last four months, after Eugen Tomac and Adrian Vestea in June and Siegfried Muresan in September. The article notes that pensions were not indexed under the Bolojan government, nor at the end of Marcel Ciolacu's mandate in late 2024.