Romania’s Government will send proof to the EC that budget deficit will not exceed 3% this year

Romania’s finance minister Viorel Stefan said yesterday that Romania hasn’t yet sent any documents to the European Commission to prove that the country will not enter an excessive budget deficit. However, the minister said that his team has been working intensively on the documents, and the deadline to send them is April 25. Stefan explained that some of the European commissioners admitted to being "too cautious" and that their estimates in the previous years were contradicted by reality. The European Commission is waiting for evidence from the Romanian Government that it is able to support the increase in salaries and pensions and that the country will not record a budget deficit of over 3%, so that Romania does not enter an excess deficit procedure. The finance minister added yesterday that his ministry has a comfortable buffer and the state’s cash reserves are at an "unprecedented" level. He also said that the budget revenues collected from the beginning of the year until March 20 are higher by RON 20 million than the revenues recorded in the first quarter of 2016. In the first two months of 2017, the budget revenues totaled RON 34.9 billion and were 1.4% lower compared to the same period of 2016. EC sends letter to the Romanian Government asking to reduce budget deficit editor@romania-insider.com