Fin Min Teodorovici on rectification: No cuts to Transport, Health or Education Ministries

The budget rectification does not entail funding cuts from ministries such as Transport, Health or Education, and the ministers are under the obligation to spend the allocated money, Minister of Public Finance Eugen Teodorovici told a Tuesday's press conference. As concerns the Ministry of Education he explained from where the reduction in funds that appears in the budget rectification comes. "There are no cuts from education. It is (about) 1.02 billion lei, if I am not mistaken, and I tell you where this amount comes from, because at least those who have said so far should read a little more before making comments. There is 400 million lei, if I am not mistaken, on the salary side, because an overestimation was made at the beginning of the year and if you talk to everyone in the trade unions, because maybe you will believe them, you would see that the amounts are sufficient until the end of this year, so not until the second rectification, but until the end of the year. Further on, there is a project worth 450 million lei, if I am not mistaken, related to that program or measure with the school bags, the school supplies. You know that there is such a program at the Ministry of Education that I have also reimbursed from the European Funds, from that FEAD Program [the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived]. (...) Nothing will be affected. That is the conclusion," said Eugen Teodorovici. Moreover, the Ministry of Public Finance has stated that the Start-up Nation Program will not be affected, and this "goes on as planned, without any problem". The Ministry of Public Finance proposes a positive budget rectification, which ensures compliance with the 2.76pct limit of the budget deficit, the largest cuts being operated, according to the draft, at the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of European Funds and the Ministry of Research. The representatives of the Ministry of Public Finance say that the necessary amounts for the ongoing investment projects are being provided for, while the amounts allocated to the institutions with a low level of use of the allocated money are being reduced. The Ministry of Public Finance reports that the Gross Domestic Product increased to 1,031 billion lei, compared to 1,022.5 billion lei as estimated at the substantiation of this year's budget and that the budget rectification draft ensures the necessary amounts for the payment of pensions and salaries. AGERPRES (RO - author: George Banciulea, editor: Oana Tilica; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Simona Iacob)