Romania is in a complicated economic situation due to the budget management in previous years when we consumed more than we could afford, stated the leader of PNL, Ilie Bolojan, at the end of the consultations at Cotroceni with President Nicușor Dan.
He specified that urgent measures are needed, including increasing taxes and fees.
„I participated with my colleagues at the invitation of the President of Romania in discussions with political parties, regarding the formation of the new government and the discussion on the economic and budgetary situation. We presented the PNL analysis.
„We are in a complicated economic situation, we have a large budget deficit that we can no longer sustain in this form for long, we have a rapid increase in debt, and at this rate, we will exceed a debt larger than 60% of GDP next year.
„We have a low absorption of European funds, all these problems stem from the budget management in previous years when we consumed more than we could afford. We also have a decrease in foreign investments in Romania, measures are needed to correct these issues,” stated Ilie Bolojan.
### PNL takes partial blame and responsibility for governance
He emphasized that PNL is also partially responsible for this situation, and the party is willing to enter into governance.
„PNL is also partially responsible. We are aware of this responsibility and have expressed our willingness to participate in governance. Regardless of which government comes, measures must be taken to correct this deficit,” said Bolojan.
Among the measures that need to be taken to solve economic problems, Bolojan mentioned increasing taxes and fees.
„We will be willing to support a package of complex measures that will not disrupt the economy: reducing state operating expenses, reducing inefficiency, where staff can be reduced, reduction is necessary, eliminating sinecures, any expenses that cannot be justified, to provide services just as good but with much lower expenses.
„The second component is increasing revenues. We have significant revenues today that are not collected, and we need to increase the collection rate of these revenues, and it is also possible that in this set of measures, we may be in a situation where we have to increase taxes and fees,” Bolojan specified.
### Renegotiation of PNRR is necessary
He further stated that, regardless of the composition of the future Executive, a renegotiation of the PNRR becomes inevitable.
„In terms of accessing European funds, I believe that, regardless of the government that comes and who will be the minister, a renegotiation of the PNRR is necessary because there are points that we can no longer adhere to, think about the closure of certain power plants within a certain timeframe.”
Additionally, Bolojan mentioned that some projects from the PNRR, such as hospital construction, cannot be completed by 2026 – the deadline set by the European Commission.
„We need to replace some projects because some of the projects in the PNRR, I am thinking, for example, in the healthcare sector, in the construction of hospitals, cannot be completed by next year. Therefore, these projects need to be transferred to state funding, and they need to be replaced by projects that can be completed, so that, on the one hand, we can close them all, but also draw on European funds to ensure the further development of our country.”
### First consultations of Dan’s mandate
President Nicușor Dan has the first consultations with parliamentary parties on Wednesday.
According to the Presidential Administration, the consultations are informal and focus on the economic and political situation of the country.
There will be 11 hours of discussions, with each party having an hour and a half. They started at 9:00 with the Social Democratic Party and will end at 20:00 with the unaffiliated parliamentarians.
President Nicușor Dan stated Wednesday morning that the discussions at the Cotroceni Palace with parliamentary formations focus on balancing the state budget and the new Government, which he hopes will be formed in two to three weeks and include the four pro-Western parties.