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Parliament on Tuesday adopted the draft laws on the state budget and the social insurance budget for 2017. The draft on the state budget was adopted by 208 votes to 105, and that of the social insurance budget was adopted by 208 votes to 107.
National Liberal Party (PNL) Senator Florin Citu pointed out that the Liberal parliament members voted against the 2017 budget. "It is a budget breeching the fiscal accountability law, as the Tax Code states it, it is a budget not supporting partnership, market economy, it is a budget for consumption, it is a budget that has no more money for investments, investments are funded from promises of European funds or engagement loans," Citu said.
Before casting the votes, the PNL and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) representatives requested the presence in the plenary meeting of the Government representatives. Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu on Monday, in the opening of the debates in the joint plenary meeting of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, presented the state budget draft proposed by the Government. The 2017 budget will keep within the under 3 percent of the GDP budget deficit target, Grindeanu said. "The annual budget is definitely an important moment for Romania, the Government and Parliament, as set as a priority are all projects and all short and medium-term public programmes. It is maybe the only moment in which the significance of the words in political statements is replaced with the cold reality of the figures in the state budget draft law and the social insurance budget draft. We can thus contribute to improving the quality of Romanians' life in 2017, without pretending, however, that we please everyone. The budget draft for 2017 is configures on a macroeconomic framework with a GDP value of 815.195 billion lei and a 5.2 percent economic growth. The cash budget deficit is estimated at 2.96 of the GDP, while the ESA deficit stands at 2.98 percent of the GDP, keeping within the under 3 percent of the GDP budget deficit target, according to the Maastricht Treaty," Grindeanu told the Parliament plenary meeting.
