PM admits Romania deferred defense spending from 2023 to meet deficit target

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu admitted that part of the military spending committed in 2023 was, in fact, deferred and operated in January and February 2024.

“We have completed all the deals as we promised,” PM Ciolacu said when asked about the defense spending reported by NATO at only 1.6% of GDP in 2023, compared to figures as high as 2.5% reported by authorities, Mediafax reported.

In other words, Romania sealed the defense contracts as initially planned, but part of the spending associated was deferred for 2024.

Although PM Ciolacu didn’t mention it, the reason for such an operation could be only one: meeting the 5.7%-of-GDP public deficit target pledged for 2-23 before the European Commission. However, this put supplementary pressure on this year’s budget deficit.

Romania’s budget deficit reportedly reached 1.67% of GDP in the first two months of 2024, up from 1.07% a year earlier, according to preliminary unofficial data.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)