Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has said on Wednesday, while in Carei, that the budget deficit this year will be below 3% and not above 4%, as announced by PNL MEP Daniel Buda.
“The deficit this year is below 3% and for the entire year will be below 3%. Allow me to comment on my information, not on yours. It is below 3% – 2.97% in 2017 and so on in 2018 according to the budget forecast,” Tudose said.
Asked if he is dissatisfied by Finance Minister Ionut Misa, the Premier denied such information. “It’s not true, on the contrary. We don’t intend to replace him,” Mihai Tudose said.
PSD chairman and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea also said that Ionut Misa is a performing minister.
Dragnea said he had a meeting of 18 hours together with Mr. Misa on the budget. “There was no conflict between us or between the Premier and Mr. Misa. He is a performing minister, working hard and will have good results,” Dragnea said.
PNL MEP Daniel Buda informed, in a press release, that the budget deficit, according to the European Commission, reportedly is 4.1% this year.
Finance Ministry: Budget deficit target is 2.96pc of GDP, no danger in achieving it
A release issued by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday reads that the budget deficit target is set at 2.96% of the GDP this year. “The target is not in danger. The difference against the Eurostat figures and the ones from the ministry is due to the methodology. The execution of the consolidated state budget, according to the national methodology, shows a surplus of 0.19% of GDP per year, and it should be of 0.96% of GDP in Q3,” the Finance Ministry release reads, quoted by hotnews.ro.
The release also reads that the execution of the consolidated state budget for nine months led to a deficit of 0.81% of the GDP and proves that Romania meets the 2.96% of the GDP per year, set for 2017.
According to the Eurostat figures released on Tuesday, the European Commission estimates that Romania has concluded Q2 2017 with a 4.1% seasonally adjusted budget deficit, the highest in the European Union. Eurostat has revised also the statistics for Q1 to 3.6% against the previous estimation of 3.2%.
Romania is thus the country with the highest budget deficit in the EU, followed by the UK with a deficit of 3.4%.