Romania’s budget deficit hits 2.8% of GDP in Jan-Oct

Romania’s budget deficit reached RON 29 billion (EUR 6.1 billion) in January-October, or 2.8% of the GDP projected for the whole year, which is more than the budget deficit planned by the former Government for the whole 2019, president Klaus Iohannis said on November 7 speaking at a business conference organised by Romania’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR), Ziarul Financiar reported.

In the first ten months of last year, the budget gap was only RON 21 bln (EUR 4.46 bln), or 2.2% of the GDP.

The latest official figures indicate 2.6%-of-GDP deficit for January-September, up by 50% compared to the same period last year.

The new finance minister, Florin Citu, upon taking the office last week, said that the gap would hardly remain below 3% of GDP for the whole year while independent estimates put it at 3.5%-4% of GDP. The European Commission in its Autumn Forecast estimated this year’s budget gap at 3.7% of GDP.

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