Resolving deficit problems must be part of a plan to revive Romania's economy and we are facing at least 18 months, if not more, of difficult periods, not to mention that they may be very difficult, said on Thursday former Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania.
He emphasized that these problems are reflected in "We are waiting for - and I am not speaking here as a member of the board of the National Bank, I am speaking as a former Minister of Finance, we are waiting for at least 18 months, if not more, of a difficult period, not to mention that it may be very difficult, and I believe that this is a truth with which we must begin any kind of discussion with the private sector in Romania. Why are these months waiting for us, why will it be difficult and why do we have to say this very clearly? Because the knife has reached the bone. A country with recurring deficits of 8%, 9%, a country that has increased its public debt in 5 years from 467 billion (RON - ed.), what it was when I took over, in 2020, to over 1,000 billion today, so parallel public debt and deficit, is a country that has problems," said Nazare, at the National Forum ''The Future of Agriculture''. country's rating, and the country's rating is reflected in the interest the country pays.
He emphasized that these problems are reflected in the country's rating, and the country's rating is reflected in the interest the country pays.
"The private sector cannot pay a better interest rate than the one the country pays. Things are very linked here. If the country performs, interest rates decrease. The more the country performs, the better the rating, the lower the interest rates. Interest rates decrease, interest rates also decrease for the private sector. There is no gap between the private and the public here. The private and the public are together, we call ourselves Romania, we are not separate. You can be dissatisfied, it is true, I understand the dissatisfaction, I also understand the expectations related to the banking system, how can the banking system also look at the public system and say that it would have been expected that the public system would build better budgets, keep expenses under control, spend more European funds and maybe together in this team game, if one had done something and the other something else, the overall situation would be "It was better," he said.
In the opinion of the former Minister of Finance, discussing only the deficit is not appropriate and economic recovery should be discussed.
"Look, we are still here today and we are discussing the deficit and only the deficit. And I wanted to start with one thing: I think that talking only about the deficit today is not the right way. Although the problems are so big, I think that today we should talk about the economic recovery as a whole, not about the deficit. Today's solution to the deficit problems must be part of a plan for Romania's economic recovery. Obviously, economic recovery means stimulation, it means resources that the state spends in one way or another to relaunch the economy. And you need resources, but with resources you have to cover gaps. How do you do this? How do you relaunch, cover gaps? Well, let's go back in time a little, go back 10 years, 8 years and see that the economy was growing," Nazare argued.
The BNR official emphasized that, during the period when Romania experienced economic growth, resources were spent, and the economy was not a priority for governments and ruling parties.
"When the economy was growing, we didn't consider that we might reach a point where things would change and we would need some resources. We kept spending, we kept spending until we got here and at a deep level we have to recognize one thing: the economy was not the state's priority, it was not the governments' priority. And it's not about one party. It's about a series of parties, a series of governments and we have to tell the truth. Yes, because if it had been the economy, if we had prioritized the economy, then we had clear, measurable objectives, which started from the top down and as they started, measurable, they were reflected in the activity of each ministry. And then, yes, we had the economy. We had other concerns. The economy was not in first place," concluded Alexandru Nazare.
The Romanian Farmers Club organized, on Thursday, the National Forum for the Future of Agriculture, a meeting dedicated to presenting the conclusions and promoting the important initiatives resulting from the series of six regional forums held in recent months. The event was opened by the President of Romania, Nicuşor Dan.
The regional forums for the ''Future of Agriculture'' attracted leaders from all sectors of the agri-food value chain and related sectors to agriculture, thus providing the debate framework and platform for new partnerships that equally concern the elimination of the trade balance deficit for agri-food products, along with regaining competitiveness, focusing on the production of added value in agriculture through processing and integration, increasing the attractiveness of the sector for young people and ensuring generational (re)renewal.
The National Forum brings together approximately 100 leaders: successful farmers - entrepreneurs from all eight development regions of the country, representatives of authorities and key institutions in the development of the sector, as well as leaders from industries related and complementary to agriculture: retail, technology, transport, energy, sustainability and banking.
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