Romanian Govt Cuts Expenses For Most Ministries

The biggest cuts will be in defense, agriculture and health.

The list of institutions to see budget cuts, already included in the government emergency ordinance regarding the 2008 budget revision, includes the Ministry of Defense (-RON800 million), the Ministry of Agriculture (-RON450 million), the Ministry of Health (-RON433.7 million), the Ministry of Environment (-RON190.6 million), the Ministry of Transports (-RON100 million), the Ministry of Education (-RON200 million), government sources told MEDIAFAX.

Expenses will be also cut for the Ministry of Development (-RON65.7 million), the Ministry for SMEs (-RON50.1 million), the Ministry of Communication (-RON2.1 million), the Public Ministry (-RON9 million), the National Sanitary Veterinary Authority (-RON100 million), the Prime Minister’s Chancellery (-RON38 million), the Government’s Secretariat General (-RON20.3 million), the Romanian Academy (-RON5.9 million), the Romanian Cultural Institute (-RON4.3 million), the Romanian Television Network (-RON21 million), the privatization agency AVAS (-RON7.2 million), the High Council of Magistrates (-RON3.1 million), the Academy of Scientists and the Competition Council (-RON1 million each).

Expenses covered by foreign lending will also be cut by RON801.2 million, particularly in the case of the Romanian Intelligence Service (-RON271.2 million), the Ministry of Transports (-RON141.9 million), the Ministry of Education (-RON81.2 million), the Ministry of Interior (-RON76.1 million), the Ministry of Development (-RON59.2 million), the Ministry of Environment (-RON40 million), the Ministry of Culture (-RON32.4 million) and the Ministry of Justice (-RON17.3 million).

Local budget expenses will be reduced by RON965.3 million.

The budget expenses of the Ministry of Economy and Finance will be supplemented by RON600 million, of which RON500 million is earmarked for the government’s budget reserve fund and RON100 million for state aid.

The deficit of the general consolidated budget will be therefore narrowed by 0.4 percentage points, to 2.3% of gross domestic product.