The 2024 budget bill to be adopted by Christmas
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that the state budget for 2024 will be debated by the Bucharest Government on Thursday, will be voted by Parliament next week.
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Daniela Budu, 12.12.2023, 14:00
Romanias draft budget for next year will be approved by the Government this week and then submitted to Parliament for debate, which is expected to give the final vote before Christmas, according to the ruling coalition. Its leaders have had, over the last few days, several talks regarding the budget allocations, and concrete data from the text of the document were presented on Monday. The National Liberal party (PNL) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) claim that the measures will decrease fiscal evasion and, by digitizing the Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), more money will be collected to increase the salaries of public servants and teachers, as well as pensions. Economists are skeptical about it and say that the deficit will be by at least 1% percent higher than the one announced, and that the money from the digitization of ANAF and from a lower tax evasion will only come in 2025. The budget planned by the Romanian Government for next year contains record figures for Health, Education, Transportation and Investments. The Ministry of Health will have 3.4 billion euros, and the Health Insurance House will receive 12.6 billion euros. The Ministry of Transport will be allocated 6 billion euros, the Ministry of Education 11.4 billion euros, and the Ministry of Development, 2.6 billion euros.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu also announced a general increase in salaries in the public system: “There will be a 5% salary increase in the entire public system, except for the dignitaries salaries. We are allocating 7.3% to investments. This is the biggest budget for investment to date. We have a generous budget for education – 4.1% – that is a 60% increase. We also have an increase at the Ministry of Health – 26%, at the Ministry of Transport – 30%. The budget deficit will be under 5%.”
All these increases in funds and budget allocations will be made without tax increases, the heads of the ruling coalition explained. They estimate that the States revenues will be higher than this year. PNL leader Nicolae Ciucă: “The digitization of ANAF, declaring the entry of goods into the country, toughening penalties for tax evasion, are all stipulated. In November 2023, if we compare spending on goods and services with November 2022, we see that spending has been reduced by approximately 600 million euros. This means it is possible to have additional amounts also from a more efficient management of these expenses.”
In conclusion, the ruling coalition gives assurances that the budget for 2024 is a sustainable one, and according to the PM, next year, Romania will have the second largest economic growth rate in Europe, of 3.4%. (EE)
