"I can assure you that by mid-December, as we discussed the calendar, we will have the budget approved in Parliament"

RADIO ROMANIA NEWS - A normative act, which includes the main fiscal-budgetary measures, is adopted every year before the state budget and social insurance projects, documents that would be put up for public debate this week. The coalition proposes that the two projects pass the Parliament's vote before the winter holiday break. It will be the first time that the state budget will be built on programs and also the first time that the amount allocated to defense will be 2.5% of the gross domestic product, the highest in the post-December history, against the background of the war waged by Russia in Ukraine. The project is based on an economic growth estimate of just 3% next year and targets a budget deficit of 4.4%.

Petruta Obrejan reports - Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that the draft budget for next year is, for the first time, built on programs and will allow the continuation of investments, including from the NRRP, the management of the budget deficit, but also of inflation. It is appreciated that the budget built on economic and social programs will allow better monitoring of expenses, the degree of implementation, but also the real impact in the economy. The budget project will also identify the financial sources that will allow the salary and pension increases already announced and, last but not least - the head of the executive said - the necessary measures to protect the vulnerable population.

Nicolae Ciuca: "I can assure you that by mid-December, as we discussed the calendar, we will have the budget approved in Parliament. For what we included in the "Support for Romania" project, the measures will continue next year. Let's also identify the other measures we can take for vulnerable citizens."

According to the Minister of Finance Adrian Caciu, the budget project built by programs represents a change in both paradigm and approach, stating that it is not only programming that is important, but also the tracking of result indicators.

Adrian Caciu: "If this year we make a budget for next year, according to the programs, sometime after September you will be able to follow the progress."

Translated by: Radu Matei