In January, the public budget deficit in Romania surged by 140% YoY to RON 4 bln (EUR 800 mln), which accounts for 0.25% of the GDP projected for the whole year.

The expenditures increased by 14% YoY to RON 43.6 bln.

The interest on public debt rose 82% to RON 3.1 bln, which was 7.1% of the total public expenditures. The subsidies more than doubled to RON 1.27 bln.

The revenues increased by only 8.5% YoY to RON 39.6 bln as the net VAT collection edged up by only 1.9% YoY, despite high inflation and robust retail sales, to RON 9.7 bln. The Ministry of Finance explains this was due to a significant VAT refund.

The excise tax revenues dropped by 24% YoY to RON 2.9 bln.

Romania’s Government targets a 4.4%-of-GDP general government budget deficit this year, or RON 68 bln in absolute terms.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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