Romania's Jan-Sept Budget Deficit At 5.1% Of GDP, Below IMF Cap

Romania's consolidated budget posted a 25.56 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2877) deficit, or 5.1% of the gross domestic product, after the first nine months, according to Finance Ministry data.

In the January-September period, the consolidated budget revenues were of RON115.77 billion, down 6.7% on the year. Expenditure, on the other hand, rose 7.6% on the year to RON141.33 billion.

Thus, the deficit is 40% wider than in the same period of 2008.

Budget revenues accounted for 23.3% of the GDP, while expenses stood at 28.4% of the GDP, according to Finance Ministry data.

The public deficit came below the cap agreed with the International Monetary Fund, of RON26.9 billion.

Romania secured earlier in the year EUR19.95 billion of financial aid from the IMF, the European Union and other international institutions to cope with the deepening recession.

The agreement between Romania and the IMF fixes quarterly performance criteria for this year's budget deficit, which needs to be lower than 7.3% of GDP end-December.

mediafax.ro