Minister: Romania may lose 'all Resilience Facility money' in 2024 unless it meets deficit targets

Economy minister Radu Oprea warned that Romania risks losing funds from the European Union if it does not meet the deficit target. Romania borrowed a lot during the pandemic but "wasted the money" instead of investing it in the economy, the minister explained in a Digi24.ro interview.

Minister Oprea said that "someone will have to bear responsibility" for the fact that Romania has entered the excessive deficit procedure.

"I know that in the PNRR, there are very clear conditions related to European funds if we do not meet the deficit targets. There is a risk that we will lose these funds, that they will be frozen until we get out of a certain area [in terms of budget deficit]," he added.

He explained that Romania "is under excessive deficit procedure because we reached a [budget deficit] peak at the beginning of the pandemic, [a peak] of 9%."

Furthermore, Romania "wasted the money." "We did not do something very good, in the sense of investing [the borrowed] in the economy, to produce other money", said minister of economy Radu Oprea.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)