In brief

  • The Finance Ministry amended, through Order no. 969/2026, the annex to Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 86/2005, the act that sets a fixed day of the month on which each public institution pays salaries.
  • For the Economic and Social Council (departmental code 51), the new salary payment date becomes the 9th day of each month.
  • The order was signed on 30 July 2026 and took effect upon publication in the Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial), on 3 August 2026.
Act: Order of the Minister of Finance no. 969/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania no. 640 of 3 August 2026
Effective: 3 August 2026

Employees of the Economic and Social Council now have a new fixed payday every month. Through an order signed on 30 July 2026 by Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, a single line was amended in the annex to Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 86/2005, the act that has, for more than two decades, set the day of the month on which the treasury transfers salaries to staff of each public institution financed from the state budget. The change concerns exclusively the Economic and Social Council (ESC), the advisory institution that issues opinions on draft legislation with economic and social impact: the new payment date becomes the 9th of the month.

Order no. 86/2005 contains a table with dozens of departmental codes, one for each ministry, agency or public institution, each with its own salary payment day. The reasoning behind this staggering is purely technical: if every public institution paid salaries on the same day, the treasury system and the commercial banks through which the money reaches employees would face a peak load that would be hard to manage, with delay risks for everyone. Order no. 969/2026 does not change this mechanism; it only updates, for the Economic and Social Council, the calendar day on which payment is scheduled.

What it changes in practice

The order has a strictly administrative effect, limited to the internal payment flow of a single institution. For Economic and Social Council employees, starting with the first month of application, salaries will arrive on the 9th of the month, regardless of the date previously used by the institution. For the rest of the public institutions and for the state budget overall, the order produces no change: the payment calendar of the other main credit-releasing authorities, as set by Order no. 86/2005 and its subsequent amendments, remains unchanged.

The text of the order does not expressly state what the previous salary payment date at the ESC was, since it directly amends the table line without mentioning its old form. The institution and its employees are, of course, aware of the date used until now; for the general public, the new and verifiable element is the date that takes effect: the 9th of the month.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

  • Updated payment date: in the annex to Order no. 86/2005, at departmental code 51 “Economic and Social Council,” the “Salary payment date” column becomes “9.”
  • The rest of the annex remains unchanged: payment dates for the other public institutions, with their own departmental codes, are not affected by this order.
  • Immediate entry into force: the order does not set a later application date, so it takes effect as of the date of publication in the Official Gazette of Romania.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • Official clarity: ESC employees now have a reference published in the Official Gazette of Romania for the date they should receive their salary.
  • A simple, quick update, with no extra administrative burden for the institution or its employees.
  • The staggered payment mechanism, which protects the treasury system from peak loads, is preserved.

What remains a problem

  • The order does not explain the concrete reason for the change (cash-flow issues, alignment with other institutions, or an internal request from the ESC), leaving room for interpretation.
  • Since the old payment date is not mentioned, the public cannot directly compare the difference from the previous situation based on the text alone.
  • Being a one-line change to an act from 2005, the information risks staying under the radar for employees unless it is communicated internally, in time, by the institution.

Practical advice

  1. If you work for the Economic and Social Council: check with the finance-accounting or human resources department whether the new date, the 9th of the month, applies starting this month or the next, especially if you have payments scheduled (loan instalments, rent, subscriptions) tied to your old salary date.
  2. If you work for another public institution: if you want to find out the salary payment date for your own main credit-releasing authority, check the consolidated form of Order MFP no. 86/2005, with all subsequent amendments, not just this specific order, which concerns a single departmental code.
  3. Accountants and economists in the public sector: keep in mind that such single-line changes to the annex are frequent and, as a rule, do not require revising other internal payroll procedures.

Frequently asked questions

What is Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 86/2005?
It is the normative act that sets, for each public institution financed from the state budget, identified by a departmental code, a fixed day of the month on which the treasury transfers employees’ salaries, in order to stagger payments and avoid overloading the banking and treasury system.
What does Finance Ministry Order no. 969/2026 actually change?
It amends a single line in the annex to Order no. 86/2005, the one corresponding to the Economic and Social Council (departmental code 51), setting the 9th of the month as the new salary payment date for the institution’s staff.
Since when does the new payment date apply?
The order took effect on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, 3 August 2026, since the text does not set any other application date.
Does this order affect salaries at other public institutions?
No. The change concerns exclusively the table line corresponding to the Economic and Social Council; the payment dates of the other public institutions, set by the same Order no. 86/2005, remain unchanged.
What is the Economic and Social Council?
A public institution of national interest, with an advisory role, which provides the Parliament and the Government with opinions on draft normative acts with economic and social impact, as well as own-initiative referrals in these fields.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official published form.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 640 of 3 August 2026 32 pages PDF, 205 KB the act starts on page 32

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.