FinMin Citu says economic crisis incurs half of Romania's 2020 general gov't deficit

Half of Romania's 2020 general government deficit represents the cost of the economic crisis, and the cost has two components: an increase in unforeseen expenditures, such as healthcare spending, social assistance and a significant reduction in revenues against initial projections, Finance Minister Florin Citu said Tuesday.

"In 2020, half of the government deficit is incurred by the cost of the economic crisis. Let it be clearer to everyone: half. And the cost has two components: an increase in unforeseen expenditures (healthcare spending, social assistance, etc.) and a significant reduction in revenues against initial projections. That is the reality that the socialists in the Romanian Parliament, together with the lackeys around them, want to hide from Romanians. And they pay a lot of money for it. They don't stop here and they don't hide anymore. They want to destroy Romania and they do not care about anything anymore. They are churning out without sources of funding just because they can," Florin Citu wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

He mentioned that he will continue to manage Romania's money prudently and responsibly in order to reduce as much as possible the negative impact of the economic crisis on the country.

The general government deficit in the first six months of 2020 recorded a deficit of 45.17 billion lei (4.17% of GDP), according to data published by the Ministry of Public Finance.

More than half of the deficit, or 23.04 billion lei (2.13% of GDP), is generated by the amounts left in the economy through fiscal incentives and exceptional expenditures adopted to combat the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the Ministry of Finance.