Romania’s budget deficit amounted to 2.6% of the GDP in 2016, below the expected level of 2.8% of GDP, former finance minister Anca Dragu told Bloomberg, reports local News.ro.

This means that the Romanian state’s expenses exceeded its revenues by EUR 4.31 billion last year. The deficit is expected to increase this year.

Dragu said in a different statement yesterday that she left the new Government a draft budget for 2017 which takes into account a budget deficit of 2.99% of the GDP. However, the new cabinet will likely make its own budget for this year, as it plans to increase salaries in the public sector and to cut or eliminate some taxes.

PSD leader Liviu Dragnea asked yesterday the new finance minister Viorel Stefan to start a “very tough” internal investigation to understand why the Ciolos government said that it made a positive budget amendment, but collected RON 10 billion less than initially planned last year.

editor@romania-insider.com