Fin Min Official: 2010 State Budget Draft Won't Be Sent To Parliament In Due Time

The budget draft would not be sent to Parliament in due time, by the legal deadline October 15, Romanian Finance Ministry state secretary Gheorghe Gherghina told Mediafax Tuesday.

Emil Boc's minority government lost a confidence vote in Parliament Tuesday, as lawmakers voted 254 to 176 to overthrow the Cabinet, a first in Romania's twenty years of post-communist history.

Finance Minister Gheorghe Pogea said Monday, after the meeting with union leaders and representatives of employers' associations, that the Finance Ministry thinks the draft law on the 2010 state budget should be sent to Parliament in due time.

Gherghina last week said the 2010 consolidated budget will be projected on total revenues of 166.709 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2897), namely, 31.75% of GDP, expenses of RON197.904 billion (37.68% of GDP) and a 5.9% budget deficit.

Gherghina said the gross domestic product estimated for 2010 is of RON525.1 billion, up 0.5% in real terms. For 2010, the Finance Ministry's projections are based on an average exchange rate of RON4.2 to the euro and a 3.7% inflation rate.

The ministry estimates a slight increase in revenues in 2010, as share in GDP, and a cut in budget spending by 1.2 percentage points.

mediafax.ro