PM Orban: PSD has wasted public money, compelling us to carry out measure plan to reduce deficit

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban maintained on Friday that "PSD [the Social Democratic Party] has wasted public money" and has brought Romania "in a situation in which it is unavoidable to exceed the deficit target" that we have as an obligation in the EU Treaty - namely 3 percent of GDP. "And they compel us to carry out a plan of measures that will minimize this deficit in the shortest possible time," Orban said at the end of the signing ceremony of the financing contract for the modernization project of the Brasov County Clinical Emergency Hospital. "The deficit is much larger than the projected deficit. The 9-month deficit on the budget execution published by the Ministry of Finance was 2.6 percent. Last year, the 9-month deficit was 1.6 percent and last year ended with a deficit of 3 percent, which was actually higher, because they applied the trick of placing some expenses from 2018 in 2019. As regards simple and concrete data regarding the plan of tax receipts, duties, the income plan they had in the State Budget Law, the revenues to the state budget are by 11 billion RON lower, the expenses are higher than expected. (...) In addition, there are many expenses that should have been made in accordance with the legal provisions and which were not carried out, burdening the private environment with the fictional maintenance of a deficit below 3 percent, when, in reality, since the 9th and 10th months, the real deficit is over 3 percent," premier Orban gave further details. According to the prime minister, at present, the outstanding VAT refunds, respectively those that have not been made on time, exceed 5 billion RON according to the forecast the Government has, "at the Ministry of Development, within the National Local Development Program - PNDL 2 - there are overdue payments also amounting to 5 billion RON, there are also delays in relation to the settling of the expenses for medical leave and other forms of payment that were supposed to be made by the National Healthcare Insurance House. Under these circumstance and especially taking into account that in the first 10 months of the year the former government has executed the budget, we consider that we have absolutely no responsibility for this deficit, this deficit was caused by a bad budget planning, by not dealing with the big outbreaks of tax evasion. (...) The former government tolerated tax evasion and it did not have the capacity to collect state revenues in accordance with the legal provisions," he added. Ludovic Orban also pointed out "some expenses were generated to feed the political clientele or on an electoral basis rather than representing a necessity for society". He also argued that another reason for the increase in spending is due to the fact that there are ministries, agencies, authorities, local authorities that have no money to finish the budget year, do not have money for operating expenses, absolutely necessary expenses. "And here we will have to rectify the budget and apply the financial resources to these loan officers who have no money. The National Healthcare Insurance House has consumed 98 percent of its budget and does not have the capacity to have resources until the end of the year if the budgetary rectification is not carried out by the end of November," the prime minister said.AGERPRES(RO - author: Catalina Matei, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)