Romanian finance minister defends budget execution criticised by ruling Social Democrats

The PSD recently returned to government after bringing down its own coalition partner, prime minister Ilie Bolojan, in May.

Nazare, who served as finance minister under both the Bolojan government and the government led by independent Luca Niculescu, presented official data showing that the budget deficit had fallen by 1.5 percentage points of GDP in the first nine months of the year.

The Ministry of Finance published the budget execution figures for the January–September period on October 27, following a detailed presentation by Nazare last week.

“The budget deficit decreased by 1.5 percentage points of GDP in the first nine months of 2026, from 5.3% to 3.8%. Budget execution for the January–September period ended with a deficit of RON 78.3 billion, compared with RON 102.5 billion in the same period last year,” Nazare wrote in a Facebook post.

He also praised the Bolojan government’s policies, saying that “the latest data continues to confirm the effects of fiscal consolidation measures and marks an important development in correcting budgetary imbalances”.

Grindeanu had complained about an alleged increase in the budget deficit and repeatedly called on Nazare to publicly present what he described as the “dramatic situation in the country’s finances”.

“PSD has requested and continues to request the public presentation of the real situation of the country’s finances as soon as possible, not so that we can complain about the heavy legacy, as Ilie Bolojan did when he became prime minister, but so that we can finally clean up after austerity and know exactly where we are starting from. And I believe that minister Nazare is capable of doing this, considering that he has ensured continuity at the Ministry of Public Finance,” Grindeanu said on Monday at PSD headquarters, following a meeting of the party’s National Permanent Bureau, as quoted by G4media.ro.