Govt Says EC Won’t Launch Infringement Procedure Vs Romania For Excessive Budget

"There is no danger for Romania to exceed the budget deficit established in the Maastricht treaty", Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said Wednesday in the Government session.

But the European Commission said recently the budget strategy for this year does not comply with the prudent budget policy necessary to reduce the foreign deficit and with the inflationary pressures that endanger the convergence process.

European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said at the end of January in Brussels that the EC will initiate a series of legal measures against Romania if the authorities from Bucharest will not keep a better control of expenses and the budget deficit.

By law, the European Commission can launch the excessive budget procedure if the gap exceeds 3% of GDP.

According to Romanian accounting standards, the country reported last year a budget deficit of 2.4% of GDP, or 2.7% by European standards.

The government has set a budget deficit limit of 2.7% of GDP for this year.