Who received money following the budget rectification?

The new budget design provides a 1.9% economic decrease in 2010 and a 6.8% deficit of the GDP.

PM Emil Boc claims that, after the rectification, every ministry is obliged to set its priority investments in 2010 and allocate money, first of all, for the completion of investments.

A drop of water in an ocean, the money will only cover part of the needs.

Because, PM Boc admits, ‘’there are 40,000 open investments and all in all, we need Romania’s budget for more than 10 years, in order to carry them out.’’

The rectification also aims at ensuring the co-funding of projects fueled by European funds and administered by the ministry of the Environment and the Agriculture ministry, rebuilding infrastructure and houses destroyed by this summer’s floods, as well as paying the state’s pending debts.

As concerns the latter, the health care sector will receive 1.9 billion lei (the equivalent of about 400 million euros), which the state had long owed to hospitals.

Analysts believe that the measure was only triggered by the recent tragedy in a Bucharest maternity ward, where a fire killed 4 babies and maimed 7 others.

The media has only found an equivalent for this incident, citing a similar case in India.

Outrageous for an EU member state, the incident has sparked unanimous horror and further fierce debates regarding this field, which is believed to be gravely ill.

However, newspapers are skeptical as regards the long-term effects of the shock over politicians, for whom the budget remains more of an electoral instrument.

‘’The ruling Liberal Democratic deputies have their eyes riveted on Boc’s piggy bank, the daily newspaper Romania Libera underlines.

The daily ‘’Jurnalul National’’ explicitly accuses preferential allocations for constituencies with Liberal Democratic members, because ‘’Boc needs incentives to convince his MPs out of voting for a potential censure motion.’’

(Radio România Internaţional, Serviciul în limba engleză).