Deficit

The government adopted at its Friday's meeting the bill on the 2021 state budget, which remains "within the initial parameters", Prime Minister Florin Citu said. "We approved the Law on the 2021 state budget. We also approved the Law on ceilings, on specific indicators set out in the fiscal-budgetary framework for 2021, and the Law on the 2021 social security budget.

Greek products have displayed remarkable resilience in international markets, but the pandemic has had a negative effect on Greek fuel exports as both sale prices and quantities exported posted a considerable decline last year.

Greek Ministry of Finance officials are now certain that, with much of economic activity suspended, the 2021 budget deficit will be greater than originally expected.

"Our deficit will be higher," a top ministry official told Kathimerini, adding that European Union authorities had been briefed.

Deputy PM Dan Barna says each state-owned company has its own restructuring plans and that Romania must meet, in 2021, a budget deficit of up to 7.2pct, which could lead to the dismissal of some employees working in the public system. "Each state-owned company has its own restructuring plans.

The coronavirus lockdown weighed on Greek exports in April, with the biggest losses coming by way of the slump in fuel exports due to the drop in demand as well as the drastic cut in the rates of those products. Still, the same factors led to a slide in imports, narrowing the trade deficit.

In order to have lower interests, Romania must sort out the deficit issue, Finance Minister Florin Citu said on Thursday; he also stated that this year the budget deficit stays at 3.6 percent of GDP and will fall below the 3 percent threshold in 2022. "Mr. central bank governor Mugur Isarescu is largely right: in Romania, the issue is not directly the interests, but the deficits.

International borrowing is proof of responsibility, but the country's deficits are worrisome, the governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), Mugur Isarescu told a press conference, when asked about the latest loans contracted by the Ministry of Public Finance. "Worrisome, an element of concern or as you might want to call it, not of panic, however, are the country's deficits.

During the decade that just ended, Greece managed to deal with twin deficits that plunged the country into crisis and austerity. The country also managed to tame its public debt as, despite the fact that this grew both in size and as a percentage of gross domestic product, it is now considered to be sustainable thanks to the reduction of debt-servicing costs and the creation of a cash buffer.

Romania's government deficit ten months into 2019 is 2.84% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a level that exceeds the estimate for the whole year, and if we do nothing in the next month and a half the deficit will exceed 4%, Finance Minister Florin Citu told AGERPRES on Thursday. "The deficit nine months into the year should have been 2.28%, but budget implementation at 9 months is 2.60%.

Prime Minister-designate Ludovic Orban stated on Thursday that the new government cannot commit to maintain the deficit target below 3 per cent, considering that the budget execution after 9 months shows a deficit of 2.7 per cent.