The Budget is constitutional
Romania's 2026 budget can be promulgated, after the Constitutional Court rejected the complaints filed by the nationalist opposition in the Romanian Parliament.
Sorin Iordan, 27.03.2026, 13:50
The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) unanimously rejected the complaint filed by the nationalist opposition, represented by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, regarding the state budget law for this year. The CCR did not find any irregularities in the legislative process, as alleged by AUR, which claimed an accelerated procedure for debate and adoption. Regarding the accusations regarding unrealistic estimates on which the government’s calculations were based, the Court showed that these are rather issues of legislative option and opportunity in the field of state budget policies, not issues of unconstitutionality. At the same time, according to the constitutional court, the criticism that targeted the maintenance of the current amount of pensions, child allowances and scholarships are aspects that are not subject to regulation by the budget law. Romania’s budget for 2026 was adopted by Parliament last week. According to the document, the country’s Gross Domestic Product is expected to exceed 2,000 billion lei for the first time, the equivalent of approximately 392.5 billion Euros.
The budget was built on an economic growth of 1%, an average annual inflation of 6.5%, a budget deficit of 6.2% and an average monthly salary of 5,555 lei (1,090 Euros) net. The budget includes commitment appropriations for the launch of state aid schemes and for stimulating private investments. The state also commits to allocating a record level of resources this year for the development of communities and local public administrations, for which 164 billion lei (over 32 billion Euros) have been provided, over 25 billion (4.9 billion Euros) more than last year.
The majority of these investments will be supported by European funds, which are forecast to exceed 110 billion lei (about 21.5 billion Euros). Also, the share of gross government debt is expected to be at the level of 61.8% of GDP. In order to maintain the fiscal and budgetary discipline, the budget law also establishes a series of caps for the main categories of expenses, including personnel, social assistance and public debt.
Thus, in the public sector, pensions are frozen, bonuses and incentives are no longer granted, overtime is no longer paid, and people who will retire in 2026 no longer receive financial retirement benefits. The Romanian government has announced that the budget is realistic, built on principles of fiscal responsibility, balance and sustainable economic development. Its adoption comes in a context in which, in 2024, Romania’s budget deficit was 8.65% of GDP, the largest in the European Union. According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance, the deficit for 2025 was 7.65% of GDP, and after the first two months of this year it was 0.7% of GDP, half of that recorded in the same period of last year. (LS)
