PM Orban says Romania in very bad financial shape

Romania's state of finance is very bad, as its previous government failed the revenue collection plans, freshly sworn in Prime Minister Ludovic Orban told a news conference at the Finance Ministry on Wednesday. 

"I am today at the Ministry of Public Finance to officially install the new Minister of Finance, Florin Citu. I had some talks before this news conference on the financial state. As I have warned for at least a year, it is clear that the state of finance is very bad; in fact, that is visible from the official figures published: the 9-month implementation ended with a government deficit of 2.6pct, as against 1.6 in the same period of 2018. It is also clear that the collection plan was not met, and there is an 11 billion deficit. Also, the collection of contributions also over one billion in the red. There is a deficit in both the national budget and that of state social security and healthcare," said Orban. 

According to the Prime Minister, Finance Minister Citu will have to tighten the belts to a maximum and avoid any unnecessary expense. 

"Also, we should see if we can make up for the delays in the collection plan as much as we can in the last 2 months," said Orban. 

On the other hand, he added that Citu will have to gather a team next week to present a detailed, up-to-date picture of the current situation and the measures he will take to try to confine the budget deficit, to stop some public expenses and to fight against big-time tax evasion. 

Prime Minister Orban on Wednesday attended a ceremony where Citu took over the portfolio of Finance Minister.