Government approves 2008 draft budget

The government approved the draft budget in yesterday’s meeting, subsequently to be debated and passed by Parliament.

According to the draft, 6 percent of GDP is to be allocated for education, while a further 4.5 percent will go for health. Funding for both sectors will be 27 percent higher than last year. Some 0.6 percent of GDP will be allocated for research and innovation.

“It is a budget for Romania’s development. It complies with the interests of all social classes and Romania’s development needs,” Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu told a press conference following the government meeting. Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu said he was satisfied with the draft budget. “We have obtained almost one billion euro more for health,” he said.

The draft budget is based on a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) worth €7,000 per capita. GDP is expected to rise 6.5 percent year-on-year in 2008, to €138 billion, compared to €58 billion in 2004.

Social security payments will be lowered by a cumulated 6 percent for employers and employees. The consolidated budget deficit is estimated at 2.7 percent, while inflation is forecast at 3.8 percent.

As concerns transportation and infrastructure, 4 percent of GDP will be allocated for work on the Pan European Corridor IV, linking Romania to Hungary, the Transylvania, Bucharest-Brasov, and Cernavoda-Constanta highways. According to Transportation Minister Ludovic Orban, this is a 16 percent increase year-on-year.

“It is a budget for Romania’s development. It complies with the interests of all social classes and Romania’s development needs Calin Popescu Tariceanu Prime Minister