Romanian Govt Approves ’09 State Budget – Sources

Last week, the government has postponed the approval of the budget draft, as the Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu had requested reductions of several expenses from the public administration budget.

"We want a budget oriented towards investments, not consumption," Tariceanu said, adding the Economy and Finance Ministry would re-analyze the revenues and expenses budget.

The Romanian 2009 budget draft targets a general consolidated budget deficit of 2% of gross domestic product, down from an estimated 2.3% gap this year.

According to the draft, budget revenues are estimated at 224.551 billion lei ($81.93 billion), or 38.8% of gross domestic product. Total expenses are seen at RON236.076 billion, or 40.8% of GDP.

The 2009 budget draft was built on an economic growth of 6% and an inflation rate of 4.5%.