Romania May Need the Rest of the Decade to Reduce Budget Gap
- Finance minister says seven years alloted by EU rules required
- Bolos cites risk of rating downgrade in goal to cut budget gap
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Romania may need until the end of the decade to bring its budget deficit down to a target set by European Union rules as the government contends with public resistance to fiscal restraint in an election year.
Finance Minister Marcel Bolos said a regime of annual budget cuts amounting to 0.5% of gross domestic product under the EU’s new fiscal rules presents a “very hard” challenge. The Black Sea nation likely needs the seven years allotted by the fiscal framework to narrow the gap to 3% of GDP from 5% forecast for this year — a slower pace than originally projected.