Former RO finance minister asks FinMin, BNR to explain public debt policy

Former finance minister Varujan Vosganian asked the Finance Ministry and Romania's National Bank (BNR) to explain the public debt management in detail, as the debt-to-GDP ratio already exceeded 40% in June and heads to 46% by the end of the year, Ziarul Financiar reported.

Roughly half of the public debt is denominated in foreign currency. Thus, the exchange rate has a major impact on this issue, Vosganian explained the appeal to BNR.

The call launched by former minister Vosganian comes after the Fiscal Council recommended that the Government draft a credible fiscal consolidation plan if it wants to anchor the investors' expectations for a sustainable fiscal and budgetary policy trajectory.

Romania's public debt-to-GDP ratio is projected by the European Commission, under the Spring Forecast, to near 55% by the end of 2021.

Romania's per-capita public debt will thus rise from EUR 4,000 at the end of 2019 to EUR 5,000 at the end of this year and EUR 6,300 at the end of 2021, according to calculations compiled by Profit.ro based on the European Commission's projections. This will be one-fifth of the average in the euro area, but nearly three times the per-capita public debt in Bulgaria.

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