Bucharest in danger of payment default if the state budget is not adopted next week, mayor says
Bucharest mayor Ciprian Ciucu called on coalition parties to adopt the state budget next week in the form proposed by the government during a statement made on Friday, March 6. Otherwise, Bucharest risks entering into payment default.
The state budget for 2026, which should have been adopted months ago, is “essential” for Bucharest residents, because it would increase the shares allocated to the city hall from income tax.
“In April, we have a payment peak of RON 150 million, which is added to what we anyway have to pay monthly, which is money from bonds issued 20 years ago, which were rolled over year after year. And we can no longer roll them over, because the law does not allow it,” Ciucu said, cited by Digi24.
“If we manage to avoid payment default in March, in April, if we do not have the national budget and the increases in shares, the Bucharest City Hall will be in payment default,” Ciprian Ciucu specified in a press conference at the PMB headquarters.
The warning came after a meeting of the Bucharest General Council could not take place, due to the lack of a quorum. Representatives of the Social Democratic Party and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians did not attend the meeting. The mayor of the Capital stated that it is the third time that the Council cannot meet, although Bucharest is in an “extremely difficult” situation.
“The irresponsibility of those from PSD is incredible. [...] At least one of the decisions on the agenda would have helped us a lot to take some of the pressure we feel at this moment, because of the budget,” Ciucu highlighted.
According to Ciucu, Bucharest reached an “extremely bad” financial situation because the PSD-led Ciolacu government reduced the sums allocated to sector city halls in the 2024–2025 period by a total of EUR 7.5 billion.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Codrin Unici)
