Romania will start negotiations with the European Commission in June to reduce the deficit below 3% in the next 7 years/ Revenues increasing at ANAF

The Romanian government’s negotiations with the European Commission to accept a longer term for reducing the deficit will begin in June, according to government sources.

The budget deficit could reach 6.6-6.8% at the end of the year, according to government sources, well above the 5% target assumed by the government. The new figure is much closer to the estimates made by The European Commission expects that in 2024 Romania’s deficit will be over 6.5% of GDP.

At the same time, the Fiscal Council believes that it will be around 6.4% of GDP, unless a drastic cut in capital spending is resorted to again. In the draft budget, the Government forecast for this year a budget deficit of 86.6 billion lei, i.e. 5% of GDP, with a forecast economic growth of 3.4%, 2.0% higher than in 2023.

Recently, Romania started to negotiate a new agreement with the European Commission so that the 3% deficit target will be reached only in three years, according to some government sources. Now, they would like to extend the term to 7 years, the maximum limit, but according to sources, Romania will surely get a 5-year term.

We remind you that, starting from 2019, Romania’s budget deficit constantly exceeds the 3% limit, which means that the country is under excessive deficit procedure by the European Commission, which may have negative consequences regarding Romania’s access to European funds, after as economists say. A detailed analysis HERE

On the other hand, ANAF’s receipts increased, as Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced before the government meeting on Tuesday. He said that the Government is on schedule so that all pensions are paid before Easter. He assured the Romanians that they remain equally determined regarding the payment of the recalculated pensions in September. “We will ensure the full payment of the recalculated pensions, the money, moreover, is already included in the budget for the entire pension chapter”, he said.

“I start with the announcement that we are on schedule so that all pensions will be paid, as we promised, before Easter”, announced the Prime Minister at the opening of the Executive session. The Prime Minister assured that the Government has the money to pay the recalculated pensions. “I assure the Romanians that we remain just as determined regarding the payment of the recalculated pensions in September. I know that by then there will be dozens of news that there is not enough money. But the data from the first quarter show clearly, we have an increase in receipts from social contributions by over 22%, this being the effect of the increase in the number of jobs and salaries”, Ciolacu said. “We will ensure the full payment of the recalculated pensions, the money, moreover, is already included in the budget for the entire pensions chapter!” said the head of the Executive.

Also, according to some sources, VAT receipts increased by 17 percent.