Prime minister Ilie Bolojan received on Thursday, January 29, at Victoria Palace, a delegation formed by representatives of 13 international investment funds, coordinated by Bank of America. He briefed investors on Romania's economic priorities, focusing on deficit reduction, debureaucratization and energy independence, the government announced in a press release, and assured them of political stability.

"Starting the spring of next year, the mandate of the Prime Minister will be taken over by the Social Democratic Party (PSD). We intend to stick with this agreement," PM Bolojan said.

The meeting followed visits paid this week in Bucharest by representatives of the Fitch rating agency and JP Morgan, another US bank involved in the private placements operated by Romania recently, besides the FX bonds.

The meeting with the investors led by Bank of America aimed to reassure financial markets regarding the country's fiscal path and the political stability of the governing coalition in the context of the upcoming government rotation.

The prime minister stressed that the central objective for this year is to reduce the budget deficit to 6% - 6.2% of GDP. Bolojan pointed out that the "bill" for the deficits that got out of control in previous years is high, and optimising state spending is mandatory.

The investors' representatives pointed out the importance of government stability for the economy and asked what the priorities of the executive will be after the adoption of the budget for this year (not even sketched, at this moment).

PM Bolojan said that he is optimistic about maintaining government stability and supporting the priorities assumed by the government, namely the absorption of European funds, continuing to optimise public spending, adopting a simplification and debureaucratization package that will help companies, supporting investments in the defence industry, and technology transfer.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gov.ro)