General budget deficit, up 84% in Romania in first nine months

Romania’s consolidated general budget, which includes both the state budget and the pensions and unemployment budgets, recorded a deficit of RON 6.8 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) in the first nine months of this year, namely 0.81% of the GDP. The budget deficit grew by 83.8% year-on-year due to higher expenditure, driven by the increase in the public-sector wages, according to data the Finance Ministry published on its website yesterday evening. After the first eight months of this year, the budget deficit reached RON 6.5 billion, or 0.78% of the GDP. The revenues of the consolidated general budget amounted to RON 180.4 billion (EUR 39.2 billion) in the first nine months of this year, up 8.8% in nominal terms compared to the same period last year. The budget expenditure reached RON 187.3 billion (EUR 40.7 billion), up 10.5% year-on-year in nominal terms. The revenues from social contributions rose by 16.1% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year, whereas the revenues from the income tax went up by 9.1% year-on-year. The income from the VAT collection dropped by 0.3% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2016. The revenues from the excise duties also decreased by 4% year-on-year. Investment expenditures, including capital expenditures as well as those related to development programs financed from domestic and external sources, amounted to RON 12.1 billion (EUR 2.6 billion) in the first nine months of this year, or 1.4% of the GDP. By comparison, the investment expenditures reached RON 17.3 billion (EUR 3.7 billion), or 2.3% of the GDP, during the same period last year. The Government plans to reach a deficit of almost 3% of the GDP for the entire year. Romania records highest budget deficit in EU in Q2 editor@romania-insider.com