Analysts: The 2009 draft budget does not consider the financial crisis

Priority areas for 2009 will include infrastructure and investments (6.5 percent of gross domestic product), education (6 percent of GDP), transports (4.5 percent), health (4 percent) and agriculture (3 percent), according to declarations yesterday by the Minister of Finance Varujan Vosganian.

Gabriel Biris, Managing Partner of Biris Goran law firm, indicated that realistic economic growth is 4.5 percent, while revenue will not exceed 34 percent of GDP, although MEF estimates revenue of RON 224.8 billion (€61.9 bln), with a 37.9 percent ratio in GDP. “We must consider current conditions of the crisis, whose effects will be felt more intensely next year. The sharpest impact will be in the auto industry, where the decline will be 20 percent in 2009,” warns Biris.