"The state budget incomes will decrease by 17.5 billion lei by the end of 2009", Romanian minister of Finance Gheorghe Pogea declared on Tuesday. A day after the IMF delegation chief in Romania, Jeffrey Franks, presented the results of the negotiations in Bucharest, Pogea confirmed that Romania-s economy will record a 8% to 8.5% drop this year. Gheorghe Pogea presented the fiscal measures agreed with the IMF, announcing that all state employees will be forced into a 10-day unpaid vacation.
These are the main statements that minister Gheorghe Pogea added to the claims already made by Jeffrey Franks:
On the IMF mission in Romania:
the aim of the International Monetary Fund mission was to evaluate the performance criteria and the indicative targets, which had been agreed for the external finance packagethe second instalment depends on the first mission's resultswe believe that the second instalment, to be awarded in September, will not be questionedthe intention letter with the IMF has already been finalised and we will make it public after it will be signed by the Ministry of Public Finance and by the National Bank governorthe additional deficit comes also from outrunning the expenses budgetwe believe that the IMF board's verdict will be positive
Macroeconomic data for 2009-2010
the real GDP contracted by 6.2% in the first quarter of 2009 and we were expecting thatfor 2009 we're anticipating a more brutal contraction of the public incomes and we estimate 17 billion lei by the end of the yearthis means an increased budget deficitthe initial 7.5% account deficit will drop to 5.5% in 2009, a strong adjustment against 2008it is essential for the next period to recuperate the income losses caused by the downward economic cyclewith this in mind, the Government will take additional measures to limit de fiscal deficit in 2009 a
