The budget execution in the first months of 2023 supports the Fiscal Council's forecast for a 5.7%-of-GDP full-year general government deficit, Council's president Daniel Daianu said told Ziarul Financiar.

"We assessed the Q1 budget execution, and we did not change our projection," he said.

The Fiscal Council sees Government's estimates on the revenues side as overly optimistic while the interest and social protection expenditures are underestimated, the Fiscal Council head explained.

The Government is planning for a 4.4% of GDP deficit. But it admits that the Q1 revenues fell RON 4.7 bln below the target, supporting expectations for a RON 20 bln (EUR 4 bln), more than 1% of GDP) supplementary deficit.

Romania's Fiscal Council estimated last December that the budget for 2023 will result in a cash deficit of around 5.7% of GDP, according to its opinion published on December 8.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)