Romania's finance minister assures budget execution is in line with the plan

The public deficit-to-GDP ratio calculated for January-February decreased by 0.4 percentage points (pp) compared to the same period last year, minister of finance Adrian Caciu assured, Profit.ro reported.

The Government used the equivalent of 3.4% of the year's planned GDP to support companies and households, minister Caciu also said.

The figure includes the pension and child allowances hikes, as well as specific schemes for companies, he explained.

In the first two months of last year, Romania's public deficit stood at 1.14% of GDP, or RON 12.76 bln (EUR 2.5 bln) in nominal terms. Consequently, the deficit should be about 0.74% of GDP - or about RON 9.7 bln - in January-February this year.

The official figures will be published on March 25, minister Caciu confirmed.

Separately, he ruled out the possibility of cutting any tax rates before a significant improvement in the collection rates, as long as Romania is under the excessive deficit procedure triggered by the European Commission and it has to meet specific targets in terms of fiscal consolidation.

For 2022, the public budget deficit is planned at 5.84% of GDP (approximately RON 77 bln). Last year, the public budget deficit reached RON 80 bln (6.72% of GDP), decreasing compared to RON 102 bln (9.6% of GDP) in 2020.

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