Romania’s prime minister Ilie Bolojan, speaking in front of the Parliament on July 7 to assume responsibility for the first package of fiscal measures, outlined again the measures that will be included in the second package, which mainly targets public administration and state-owned companies. This second package of measures is underway and is expected to be presented to Parliament by the end of July, PM Bolojan said.
While the first corrective fiscal package is seen as securing supplementary revenues to the budget aimed at addressing imminent pressures, the second package is expected to promote deeper reforms and cut excessive public spending.
“The second package will complement these first measures. Thus, by the end of July, we will return to Parliament with the second package of measures with a focus on equity and efficiency,” PM Bolojan said, as quoted by Ziarul Financiar.
The second fiscal package includes measures such as the reform of special pensions by eliminating exceptions, correctly calculating pensions, and retiring at the general age. Past attempts to achieve such targets failed, in general, due to negative rulings of the Constitutional Court. Legal complications are expected this time as well.
The government also seeks to promote reform of state-owned companies and autonomous authorities. “We will restructure autonomous authorities such as Financial Supervisory Authority ASF, telecom and energy market regulators ANCOM and ANRE. We will reduce the number of members and pay on Boards of Directors and make activities and contracts more transparent,” PM Bolojan promised.
The government also seeks to reform the local and central administration by resizing the budgetary apparatus through decentralization and digitalization.
Combating tax evasion and fraud of public money through legislative amendments and through the action that must be seen at the tax collection agency ANAF in the coming months is another element of the second fiscal package.
The government will also secure urgent access to European funds and prioritise investments with a direct impact on development.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Gov.ro)
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