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The government is going to approve on Thursday the draft laws on the state budget and the state social insurance budget for 2023, told Agerpres.
The draft budget for next year relies on an economic growth of 2.8%, in the context in which the economic shock caused by the pandemic is one of the most significant in the recent history, shows the state budget draft law for 2023 published on Tuesday by the Ministry of Finance.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in current prices is estimated to increase up to 1,552 billion lei, from 1,396 billion lei this year.
The ESA budget deficit is calculated at 4.4% of GDP, to reach 2.9% of GDP in 2026, falling within the provisions of the European regulations at the end of the forecast horizon (2024) - 2 .95% of GDP. The cash budget deficit will reach 2.95% of GDP in 2024, which is in line with the European regulations, the same document shows.
In what concerns the general consolidated budget, total expenses are expected to account for 607.924 billion lei in 2023. Budget expenses next year will represent 39.17% of the GDP, with a downward trend in 2026. Investment expenses amount to approximately 112.1 billion lei, representing approximately 7.22% in GDP, and in 2026 they will reach approximately 154.2 billion lei.
Budget revenues, in nominal terms, are estimated at 539.6 billion lei (34.77% of GDP), increasing in nominal value over the reference horizon, to reach 655.1 billion lei in 2026 (32.78% of GDP) . The largest shares in the budget revenues in 2023 are recorded by social insurance contributions (30.1% of total revenues), followed by VAT (21.1%), amounts received from the EU (13.2% of total revenues ) and excise taxes (7.1%).
Real wage gains are expected to rise 1.7% next year, after a 2% decline this year.
During the executive meeting, the draft law on the approval of the ceilings of certain indicators specified in the fiscal-budgetary framework for the year 2023 will be adopted.
The government will also approve a draft law on Romania's cyber security and defence, as well as for the modification and completion of some normative acts.
An emergency ordinance project will also be approved regarding some measures meant to provide the necessary support to the vulnerable population for the compensation of the energy price, with financing from external non-reimbursable funds.
Another emergency ordinance project subject to Executive approval aims at the development of the MySMIS2021/SMIS2021+ computer system and the MySMIS2021 and SMIS2021 computer applications for the management of European funds related to the 2021-2027 programming period and for the completion of Law no. 153/2017 regarding the remuneration of staff paid from public funds.
The government is also set to establish, through a decision, the gross minimum basic salary for the country guaranteed in payment.
The executive will also approve a draft decision proposing the establishment for the year 2023 of a quota of 100,000 foreign workers newly admitted to the labour market in Romania.
Another draft decision aims to allocate some amounts from the Budgetary Reserve Fund at the disposal of the Government, foreseen in the state budget for 2022, to supplement the budget of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
The measure has in mind the establishment of measures to improve the efficiency of the road transport activity in the customs area with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
Through a memorandum, the Executive will approve the negotiation of financing contracts between Romania and the European Investment Bank, in the amount of 87 million euros and 123.6 million euros, respectively, for the support of projects regarding the response of the public sector in Romania to Covid-19 and , respectively, the response of the Romanian public sector to Covid-19 II and their signing.
