In the next implementation of the budget from the Ministry of Finance, it will be seen that in 6 months we have a hole of 49 billion lei, which is about 3% of GDP, says Tanase Stamule, member of PNL and professor of ASE.

Budget deficitPhoto: Yann Song Tang / Panthermedia / Profimedia

“The heavy legacy of Mr. Caciu (former finance minister no.) appears to be a huge block related to the Romanian economy,” he said in a Facebook post.

Implementation for 5 months shows a deficit of 2.32% of GDP (36.8 billion lei).

According to him, before thinking about any form of increase in fees and taxes, it is necessary to look at the expenditure part.

In his opinion:

1. It is impossible not to transfer some institutions to modern buildings just because the officials do not want to lose the 15% allowance for harmful working conditions.

2. It is impossible to have a net salary of more than 7-8,000 lei from the state and at the same time receive food vouchers and vacation tickets.

3. It is not possible to have departments at the district level in some ministries, when their transition to the regional level will significantly reduce costs and make the system more efficient.

4. It is impossible to create new agencies with hundreds of positions in the organizational structure.

5. We cannot unfreeze state employment in 2024.

6. We can no longer pay disability benefits to the perfectly healthy.

7. We can no longer provide social assistance to those who do not want to work.

“The priority for the Romanian state should be to reduce costs and only after we talk about tax increases. If we ask Romanians to show solidarity, the first sign should be given by the state by reducing its own expenses,” he explained.

It will be recalled that the Coalition is discussing a package of fiscal changes, or rather tax increases, which will come into force on September 1, 2023 and January 1, 2024.

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