Government makes new budget adjustment amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The government in Bucharest on Monday adopted the third budget adjustment this year. According to PM Ludovic Orban, the adjustment was necessary to cope with the expenses triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rectification was also needed to secure the payment of pensions and for the balancing of local budgets. PM Orban also explained new challenges and expenses never ceased to occur, given that the pandemic but also a series of legislative initiatives increased the pressure on social expenses. Contrary to the estimates made in the summer, by the end of the year the budget deficit will account for 9.1% of the GDP, while the economy will shrink by 4.2%. It is the last adjustment the Government has adopted this year, which took the budget deficit to more than 96 billion lei (that is more than 19 billion Euros). The extra sums of money will be earmarked to the Labor Ministry, for the payment of pensions, for the benefits of furloughed staff and the flexible work schedule. The Healthcare Ministry will also receive an increased sum of money, in support of the Ministry's fight against the COVID-19 virus. Of the approx. one billion lei, that is roughly 200 million Euros, extra sums of money will be earmarked for the payment of incentives for ambulance workers who were left out of the initial version of the Government's executive order stipulating that risk condition incentives would be earmarked for doctors on the front line of the fight against the pandemic. Furthermore, Finance Minister Florin Cîţu made public the fact that Romania's contribution was increased for the European financial effort to come up with a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. Extra sums of money would also be earmarked for investments. Florin Cîţu specified the most recent budget adjustment provided for the continuation of investments, standing at around 55 billion lei (roughly 11 billion Euros), up from the initial budget. Also, Education and Agriculture have also received extra sums of money as a result of the latest redistribution of funds in 2020. The Ministry of Agriculture will be the recipient of extra sums of money, to be paid in compensations to the drought-hit farmers. In turn, the Finance and the Interior Ministry will receive less money as a result of the third budget adjustment. However, the Defense Ministry will be subject to the most substantial cuts, accounting for around 2 billion lei (some 400 million Euros). The Presidential Administration and the Chamber of Deputies will also receive less money than initially stipulated. In another move, the Fiscal Council has estimated the budget deficit in 2020 would account for 9.8% of the GDP, standing at 0.7% above the Finance Ministry's forecast. According to the Fiscal Council's stance on the Government's third budget adjustment in 2020, the public finance status at the end of the year was important because it was the departure point for the budget construction in 2021. The Fiscal Council, among other things, also recommended a restructuring of the expenditure as well as of the budget revenues through the enlargement of the taxation base, the improvement of the tax collection system and a better absorption of the European funds. (Translation by Eugen Nasta) |
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