BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Bolstered by what appeared to be a strong showing in local elections, Romania’s governing coalition promised on Monday to raise the salaries of some public employees to help ease the pain of austerity measures the country imposed to win its IMF loan.

The Central Elections Bureau said that with about 40 percent of the votes counted from Sunday’s election, the left-leaning government of Prime Minister Victor Ponta won 47.2 percent of council seats and town halls. The center-right Democratic Liberal Party, which lost control of Romania’s government in a no-confidence vote in April, was a distant second with 14.5 percent.

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