PSD leaders will meet on Sunday in the National Political Council to decide the party’s position on the budget project prepared by the Government. The president of the Social Democrats, Sorin Grindeanu, stated that the project sent by the Ministry of Finance is already raising some questions within the party, as certain measures agreed upon in the coalition seem to be missing.
The budget project is expected to be sent to Parliament by the end of the week, and amendments could be submitted over the weekend, before the plenary debates begin.
PSD Sets Its Position Ahead of Parliament Debate
Sorin Grindeanu announced, after the PSD National Standing Bureau meeting, that the budget project was sent on Sunday evening by the Minister of Finance and distributed to the party leadership for analysis.
"We expect that by the end of this week the budget project will be sent to Parliament, so that amendments can be submitted during the weekend. Before the plenary debates (...) we should have the PSD's point of view on the budget project sent by the Government. This will be decided next Sunday in the National Political Council," said the PSD leader.
The plenary debates in Parliament are expected to start in a week.
PSD's Dissatisfactions: Minimum Wage and "Solidarity Package"
Grindeanu says that, upon initial analysis, the budget project does not fully include some of the measures previously negotiated within the coalition.
"The budget project was sent last night by the Minister of Finance, at least to me (...) There are a few things that at first glance seem to be missing, beyond, for example, the solidarity package that you know was not fully included. At first glance, it seems that the increase in the minimum wage is not budgeted, which was agreed upon within the Coalition," he said.
The PSD leader added that these aspects raise questions within the party. "These are things that I thought we had overcome," Grindeanu stated.
In February, PSD had set three conditions for budget negotiations: including the solidarity package, funding local projects at the 2025 level, and maintaining taxes and duties at the previous year's level.
Liberals Discuss Final Form of Budget with Prime Minister and Finance Minister
Meanwhile, the final form of the budget project is being discussed on Monday by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare with the PNL parliamentarians from the budget-finance and public administration committees, according to liberal sources.
The same sources state that the budget project is aimed at supporting investments, especially through co-financing the attraction of approximately 10 billion euros from the NRRP.
At the same time, the budget aims to boost the economy and maintain a level of social protection at least equal to that of the previous year.
The project also includes the necessary amounts to prevent the City Hall of the Capital from entering into insolvency, a measure that is expected to be accompanied by the local administration's commitment to major reforms.
Discussions Also on the Financial Situation of Bucharest
Sorin Grindeanu also raised the issue of the financial situation of the Capital, inviting the mayor of Sector 4, Daniel Băluță, to a coalition meeting on the budget.
The PSD leader stated that not only Bucharest is facing financial difficulties, and solutions must be applied at a national level.