The reform package in administration helps correct imbalances, makes the administration more efficient and more citizen-oriented, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said.
He underscored on Thursday evening, in a Facebook post, that the reform in public administration "increases the own revenues of local authorities and contributes to the co-financing of local investments, reduces staff expenditure in authorities with an excessively high number of employees, and the savings will be channelled towards better services for the citizens.", agerpres reports.
Furthermore, he added that such a reform "stimulates local economic development, decentralises powers to local authorities and supports performance in public administration."
In the Facebook post, the Prime Minister also pointed out that, taking into account the data collected in recent years on local administrations in EU countries and comparing them with the situation in Romania, several overall imbalances emerge.
First, he highlighted that Romania has a high dependence on transfers from the state budget.
"Thus: revenues from transfers from the state budget = 7.43 percent of GDP; own revenues (other than transfers) = 1.51 percent of GDP. From the indicators above, it results that the share of transfers in local budgets is 83.1 percent. By comparison, the average share of transfers in the EU is 51.1 percent," PM Bolojan explained.
Another conclusion of the analysis is that revenues from local taxes and duties are among the lowest: "revenues from local taxes and duties in Romania = 0.74 percent of GDP; European average = 3.68 percent of GDP."
"By comparison, revenues from property taxes are: in Romania = 0.55 percent of GDP; EU average = 1.85 percent of GDP. Romania is well below the EU average due to a narrow tax base (exemptions), low tax levels and collection problems. Under these conditions, the pressure falls on transfers from the central budget," the Prime Minister said.
According to him, Romania records wage expenditure far higher than local revenues.
"In Romania, wage expenditure in local administrations = 3.07 percent of GDP, compared with 0.74 percent of GDP, revenues from local taxes and duties. In the EU27, wage expenditure = 3.59 percent of GDP, compared with 3.68 percent of GDP, revenues from local taxes. In the EU, on average, wages in local authorities are covered from own resources. In Romania, wage expenditure of local authorities is more than three times higher than own revenues," the Prime Minister explained.
The same analysis also showed a high level of local investment, he pointed out.
"Local investments in Romania = 2.98 percent of GDP, compared with 1.56 percent of GDP, the EU average - the highest level in the EU. Relative to the own resources of local authorities in Romania, which account for 1.51 percent of GDP, investments are almost double. Investments at local level are heavily supported by national programmes (Anghel Saligny) and by European funds. There are significant differences among localities in Romania: county capital municipalities and localities with revenue-generating economic activities are in a better position, while other localities face even greater imbalances," Bolojan said.
The Prime Minister mentioned that the above-mentioned data were presented in discussions with the local authorities on Wednesday.
"Even if administrative systems differ from one country to another and may influence the indicators, the comparisons remain relevant," PM Bolojan concluded.
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