Speaking on public broadcaster TVR on Thursday evening, 24 hours before the expected S&P decision, Nazare said the budget deficit adjustment had reached 1.6 percentage points, while investment spending had also increased, Economedia.ro reported.
“The deficit reduction is significant, by 1.6 percentage points, a very large adjustment,” Nazare said, adding that the deficit was RON 27 billion lower than in 2025 while investments had increased by RON 25 billion to RON 97 billion by the end of August.
He said Romania had remained on track with its fiscal targets despite the political crisis that began in May. The government is targeting a cash deficit of 6.2% of GDP and an ESA deficit of 6% this year, targets that Nazare said had been considered achievable by the European Commission and rating agencies.
“In these months – May, June, July, August – despite the fact that we had an interim government, we did not have a fiscal slippage,” he said. “This sent a very good message, which allowed us to obtain an investment grade rating with the two agencies, Fitch and Moody’s.”
Nazare said he had “great confidence” in the S&P assessment after intensive discussions with the agency’s representatives, although he acknowledged that political uncertainty weighed heavily on the review.
“I trust that the report that will be published tomorrow will take into account all this progress. I trust that the projections that I have presented are credible and I hope that they will be reflected in the report,” he said.
Romania’s political crisis has nevertheless increased pressure on its sovereign rating, with prime minister-designate Siegfried Mureșan’s proposed cabinet rejected by Parliament on September 30. S&P currently rates Romania at the lowest investment-grade level, with a negative outlook.
Nazare warned that an extended political crisis and an early-election timetable could undermine the preparation and adoption of the 2027 budget, with potentially serious consequences for the rating.
“We are not in a comfortable situation. Romania really needs a government that is quickly invested, but I do not want to discuss such scenarios. We need a 2027 budget agreed by all parties and adopted by the end of the year, because investors are looking at these aspects,” he said.
“The president’s statement about early elections must also be read in this light, because in their eyes, the calendar of early elections would endanger the materialisation of the execution of the 2027 budget. Which would greatly endanger the investment rating.”
Nazare said a downgrade would have lasting consequences for the economy, affecting the exchange rate, inflation, investment decisions and financing costs.
“A scenario of early elections that would result in a downgrade would take a number of years to recover,” he said.
The minister also stressed that fiscal consolidation was necessary independently of pressure from the European Commission or rating agencies, warning that Romania’s public debt had risen above 60% of GDP and that continued large deficits would further increase the debt burden.
“It’s not just a deficit problem, it’s also a debt problem,” Nazare said.
He argued that maintaining credibility on fiscal targets was essential for attracting investment and reducing financing costs, saying that repeated deviations between projected and actual deficits would undermine investor confidence.
“The Romanian economy has potential, if we have a serious, disciplined budgetary structure, with long-term projections, in which expectations are confirmed,” he said.
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