PM Bolojan meets Commissioner Dombrovskis: Romania to continue implementing measures for sustainable recovery

 Romania remains committed to continuing the implementation of measures aimed at ensuring a sustainable economic recovery, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said on Tuesday, noting that the Government is targeting a budget deficit of around 6% for next year.Ilie Bolojan met at Victoria Palace of Government with Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, as well as for Implementation and Simplification, who is paying an official visit to Bucharest."Our dialogue today follows on from our regular contacts in recent months, particularly in the context of the Government's efforts to stabilise Romania's fiscal and budgetary situation. (...) We discussed in detail the measures taken in recent months and plans for the period ahead. I assured Commissioner Dombrovskis that we remain committed to continuing the implementation of measures to ensure a sustainable economic recovery," Bolojan said during joint press statements after the meeting.The prime minister reiterated the Government's commitment to a budget deficit target of 8.4% for this year."If we maintain proper budgetary control and financial discipline over the next two months, we aim to meet this target in order to regain credibility both with the markets and with the European Commission," Bolojan added.He said November and December would be decisive months for preparing next year's budget."In December, we should have the draft budget law ready, which will include the deficit target and the main elements for next year, while in November it is necessary to adopt a package of measures that, once included in the budget law, will ensure stabilising effects throughout the following year. Therefore, we plan to introduce measures in November to further reduce expenditure, increase revenue collection, and prioritise and phase investment projects under national budgets, in order to strike a balance in the 2026 national budget," the prime minister explained.He recalled that November would also bring several key European Commission events concerning Romania, including an ECOFIN Council meeting in the first half of the month, which will assess progress in managing the excessive deficit. "We are counting on the Commission to recognise and support the measures already taken," Bolojan said.Another key topic is the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which, once approved by the ECOFIN Council, will allow Romania to submit payment requests by the end of the year and access EU grants to sustain investments and maintain financial stability, the Prime Minister added."The deficit target we set for next year should be close to 6%. The measures to be adopted in November in preparation for the budget will be decisive, and the Government aims to adopt them in a way that maintains Romania's market access and economic stability, with results to become visible in the second half of the year," the premier clarified.He thanked Commissioner Dombrovskis for the European Commission's support in finalising the NRRP revision."This revised version will allow us to continue major ongoing investments in infrastructure, hospital construction, and school rehabilitation. We stressed Romania's strong interest in efficiently accessing recovery funds. By August next year, we have around 10 billion euros to spend ? the foundation of Romania's investment programme for 2026. We will therefore focus on works and meeting milestones to ensure the absorption of EU funds," Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan concluded.   În turn, the European Commissioner for economy and productivity, implementation and simplification Valdis Dombrovskis said that the fiscal sustainability framework is a necessary condition for improving economic growth, economic stability and enhancing the quality of life in Romania in the future.   În his opinion, it is perfectly natural for the discussions to be focused on Romania's budgetary situation and on the next steps to be taken for the fiscal sustainability framework, which is a necessary condition for improving economic growth, economic stability and enhancing the quality of life in Romania in the future. He mentioned that Romania's economic performance over the past decade had been solid, but that it had been accompanied by an increase in the current deficit and the current account deficit, which caused concern. According to him, the deficit had reached 9.3 percent of the GDP the previous year, an unsustainable level, the highest in the entire European Union. Dombrovskis underscored that it was essential for bold measures to be taken to correct the situation and reduce Romania's vulnerabilities. He mentioned that work has been carried out with the Romanian Government and authorities over the past month, especially with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, to address these urgent issues and he thanked them for their close cooperation in this regard.The European official expressed the European Commission's expectations regarding the reduction of the budget deficit mentioning that the scale and nature of the measures taken were fully in line with the efforts to bring Romania back in line with what was required, but that the Commission still expected the budget deficit to stand at 8.4 percent. He emphasised that it is important to maintain a solid framework, meaning that the deficit target for 2026 be respected in order to ensure the financial stability achieved so far and to correct the excessive deficit by 2030, according to the plans. He added that this strengthened the positive results already emerging and that financial markets had acknowledged these developments, allowing Romania to remain a recommended destination for investment in line with market perceptions and underlined that it is important for Romania to maintain access to international capital markets and to ensure it could finance its policy priorities at acceptable costs.Moreover, the European Commissioner added that it is necessary to ensure that the public finance system and economic growth deliverers solid performance, highlighting that continuous efforts and commitment are required.According to him, another priority is the implementation of the commitments undertaken by Romania through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).Through the swift implementation of the PNRR provisions, it is very important to carry these processes forward, Dombrovskis said. He said that the Commission had given a positive assessment, which should prepare the successful implementation of the plan by the August 2026 deadline. Beyond the PNRR, Romania would be able to rely on substantial support from the European Union through cohesion funds, the SAFE instrument for defence and the long-term European budget. He emphasised that it would be crucial for Romania to ensure coherent, stable and transparent mechanisms to facilitate the absorption of these funds, which benefit the Romanian economy, citizens and business environment. European Commissioner Dombrovskis added that the Commission is counting on Romania to remain an important partner in addressing today's challenges, from competitiveness to defence, ensuring that a stable and strong economy is vital from this perspective.