Romanian Finance Minister: Govt. “is missing” some 0.7% of GDP to fill budget gap

The budget “is missing RON 7 billion (EUR 1.5 billion, or some 0.7% of GDP), which the Government has to find in order to cover the deficit”, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici announced at the meeting of the senior ruling Socialist Party (PSD) on July 3, quoted by Agerpres.

The first budget revision this year will take place on July 31, when Teodorovici should also come up with an analysis of the budget execution and with a list of measures proposed for observing the 3%-of-GDP deficit threshold at the end of the year, sources quoted by Agerpres said on July 4.

Progressive taxation of public pensions is reportedly considered in order to reduce budget expenditures. Other measures that are being considered are the elimination of social programs that are not efficient and the restructuring of some state agencies. The budget execution for the first half of the year will be revealed around July 31 as well.

The budget deficit widened by 80% year-on-year in January-May, when it exceeded 1.4% of the GDP projected for the full year, according to official data from the ministry of finance.

(Photo source: Gov.ro)