Opinions on the state of the Romanian economy

For the first time since he took office, Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose on Monday was called on by the National Liberal Partys parliamentary group to elaborate on the state of the economy at “The Prime Ministers Hour in the Chamber of Deputies.

Corina Cristea, 05.09.2017, 13:12

Complying with the request of the National Liberal Party, (PNL), the main opposition party in Romania, Social-Democrat Prime Minister, Mihai Tudose on Monday presented a report on the state of the economy in the Chamber of Deputies.

The Liberals had asked for his explanations because there are reasons for concern in the public space about the possibility for this country to undergo an economic crisis in the next period similar to the one of 2009.

The hypothesis was rejected by Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, (PSD) the majority party of the ruling coalition who said there were no major problems in the economy.

That is actually the main idea in the Prime Minister’s speech in Parliament, the first he made since he took office a few months ago. The Prime Minister underscored that this year, a 5.8% economic growth rate had been reported, the biggest in Europe and that the investments were higher than in 2016.

More jobs were created in the private sector and all measures taken in the budgetary and fiscal sector had taken into account Romania’s foreign pledges — Mihai Tudose said, also pinpointing that wages and pensions had increased.

Mihai Tudose: “The deficit 8 months since the beginning of the years is minus 0.77 as against minus 2.95 as envisaged. The public duty is by 37% lower, ranking Romania third in the European Union, the highest ceiling being 60%.”

Romania’s economic situation presented by the Prime Minister was well received by the Social Democrats. Former Finance Minister, PSD deputy Viorel Stefan said that the government was investing in development, assuming a programme, which gives an extremely realistic image of the reforms to be implemented in the next few years.

However, opposition MPs have challenged the way in which the government managed the country’s economy. PNL deputy, Raluca Turcan said she was dissatisfied with the Prime Minister’s answers, making it clear that the real economic situation was not the one presented by the PSD.

The Liberals have criticized among other things the reintroduction of the fuel excise duty. The Save Romania Union deputy, Claudiu Nasui criticized the way in which Tudose’s government managed the economy:

Claudiu Nasui: “The figures presented by Romania’s Prime Minister provide a fanciful and unreal image. If things run so smoothly, the economic growth is so high and the situation is so pink, why are all these tax increases needed, which you have proposed of late?”

The leader of the People’s Movement Party deputies, Eugen Tomac said that in order to reach the budget deficit envisaged, the government would sacrifice a number of measures laid down in the government programme; the deputy of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, Erdei Istvan called on the government to provide predictability in the fiscal legislation.