{"id":4947,"date":"2025-05-12T07:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T07:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=4947"},"modified":"2025-05-12T07:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T07:02:10","slug":"romanias-independent-presidential-candidate-nicusor-dan-prioritises-spending-cuts-over-tax-hikes-in-deficit-reduction-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=4947","title":{"rendered":"Romania\u2019s independent presidential candidate Nicu\u0219or Dan prioritises spending cuts over tax hikes in deficit reduction plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Independent presidential candidate Nicu\u0219or Dan<\/strong>, the current mayor of Bucharest, has stated that Romania\u2019s fiscal consolidation must focus primarily on reducing public expenditure rather than increasing the tax burden, though he did not rule out future tax hikes if necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His remarks came during an economic debate broadcast on RomaniaTV, where the country\u2019s growing budget deficit was a key topic, according to Economica.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are four major lines of deficit correction – two on the revenue side, two on the expenditure side,\u201d Dan said. \u201cOn revenues, we\u2019re talking about large-scale tax evasion, which the World Bank advised us to address, but we\u2019ve done nothing. Then, there are European funds, which are delayed due to bureaucracy. On expenditures, limiting state spending and improving the efficiency of municipal companies are key.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romania ended 2024 with a public deficit exceeding 9% of GDP, prompting urgent calls for fiscal reform. Dan stressed that the 2\u20133% deficit target recommended by the EU is unrealistic for 2025 but said a 7% target should be achievable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must regain the trust of the financial market,\u201d he said, warning that failure to act decisively would invite external intervention. \u201cIf we don\u2019t manage this ourselves, the IMF will come and cut for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drawing on his experience as mayor of Bucharest, Dan cited his decision to cut spending on park maintenance and security to address a local budget shortfall, noting that similar measures would be necessary nationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be some cuts, some of them painful, but they are absolutely mandatory to avoid tax increases that would harm economic activity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Addressing the issue of wage policy, Nicu\u0219or Dan cautioned against increasing the minimum wage before restoring fiscal stability. \u201cNo economy can sustain a 9% deficit. Giving a minimum wage higher than what the economy can afford is state interventionism, which distorts the system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While emphasising spending rationalisation, Dan acknowledged that tax hikes may be considered in the future if spending cuts prove insufficient. \u201cNow the discussion is whether we survive economically or not,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

iulian@romania-insider.com<\/em><\/p>\n

(Photo source: Facebook\/Nicusor Dan)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Independent presidential candidate Nicu\u0219or Dan, the current mayor of Bucharest, has stated that Romania\u2019s fiscal consolidation must focus primarily on reducing public expenditure rather than increasing the tax burden, though he did not rule out future tax hikes if necessary.\u00a0 His remarks came during an economic debate broadcast on RomaniaTV, where the country\u2019s growing budget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}