EU Commissioner: Romania can respect the 3% deficit target

Romania can keep the budget deficit under 3% of the GDP this year and in the following year, European Commissioner Gunther Oettinger, responsible for budget and human resources, said yesterday, after meeting with parliamentary budget committees. "You have a relatively good overall debt ratio and a relatively good economic growth,” Oettinger added, reports local Hotnews.ro. He said that the national budget policy is the responsibility of the government and politicians in Bucharest. Romania needs almost two decades to bring the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita closer to the EU average, Oettinger said. "Romania has taken advantage of the European funds provided by the EU for infrastructure, has absorbed many funds, but not enough,” he added. The country recorded a budget deficit of 4.1% of the GDP in the second quarter of this year, according to data from EU’s statistical office Eurostat. It was the highest budget deficit in the EU during this period. In the first quarter of this year, the country saw a budget deficit of 3.6% of the GDP. However, in both cases, the deficit ratio was calculated based on the quarterly GDP. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry announced that the budget deficit in the first nine months of this year was 0.81% of the GDP estimated for the whole year. editor@romania-insider.com