EC asks Romania to implement EUR 3.3 bln measures to adjust deficit

Romania should adopt adjustment measures with an impact of 1.8% of GDP on the structural budget deficit, namely some RON 15 billion (EUR 3.3 billion), in order to comply with the obligations of the Stability and Growth Pact, according to the recommendations of the European Commission, reports local Profit.ro. The Government should report to the European Council by mid-October what measures it has taken in this regard. Romania’s Fiscal Council president Ionut Dumitru said that the Government will probably not follow the request and will wait for the budget deficit figures for 2017. "I think it is out of the question, because the need for adjustment is very high. I don’t think that the Government is thinking about it. They knew how much this adjustment would be, according to the European Commission's forecasts. If they had thought about it, they would not have taken into account measures that lead us to a deficit of more than 3%,” said Dumitru. The European Commission notified Romania on Monday that the country significantly deviated from the 1% medium-term budgetary objective (MTO) last year. Besides that, the EC issued several recommendations for Romania that need to be adopted by the European Council. The structural deficit stood at 2.6% last year. The Commission estimates a deficit of 3.9% for this year, respectively 4% for next year. Romania, among EU countries with highest budget deficits in 2016 editor@romania-insider.com