State budget is amended

With revenues lower than originally estimated, the government cuts state budget as part of the second amendment this year.

Roxana Vasile, 30.10.2013, 12:33

This autumn’s revision of the public budget, the second this year, has already been discussed with representatives of the IMF. Given that revenues to the public budget were lower than estimated, the revision translates into fewer resources for most ministries, as Prime Minister Victor Ponta explained:

“We have a downward budget revision, because revenues have been about 3.8 billion lei lower than estimated. This means fewer resources until the end of the year. And it also means that, based on more realistic data from the National Fiscal Administration Agency, for 2014 the finance minister will come up with more realistic allocation plans.”

Substantial amounts will be cut from the budgets of the Labour Ministry and the Regional Development Ministry, the President’s Office, the Constitutional Court and the National Integrity Agency. The funds for social security, pensions and public sector salaries remain unchanged, whereas the budgets of Parliament and the intelligence services will be increased, much to the discontent of the opposition.

The senior vice-president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Andreea Paul, says the left-of-centre government favours its political cronies at the expense of economic competitiveness:

“Victor Ponta’s government will have to explain exactly how the extra money for Parliament, the secret services, and the interior and foreign ministries will be spent, and why they benefit the most from this budget revision. This government offers no solutions for creating new jobs and reducing the tax burden.”

According to the opposition, once more fields like public healthcare and social protection are sacrificed, Romanians might see their living standards drop yet again.