RSS
Budget deficit goes down to 6.72pct of GDP in 2021 from 9.61pct in 2020
The consolidated general budget ended last year with a deficit of 6.72pct of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), respectively 80 billion lei, below the initial estimates which indicated a negative balance of 7.13pct of GDP at the end of the year, according to the Budget Execution provided on Friday by the Ministry of Public Finance.
The budget deficit increased significantly in December last year, by 24.02 billion lei, after, in November, the Ministry of Finance reported a negative balance of 4.7pct of GDP, respectively 55.98 billion lei. On the other hand, compared to 2020, the budget deficit recorded a significant decrease, from 9.61pct of GDP, respectively 101.8 billion lei.
"The execution of the general consolidated budget for 2021 ended with a deficit of 80 billion lei (6.72pct of GDP) decreasing compared to the deficit of 101.8 billion lei (9.61pct of GDP) recorded in 2020. The evolution of the budget deficit in 2021 was determined by: the increase of budget revenues by 1.4 percentage points of GDP (year/year), mainly influenced by the dynamics of VAT revenues and profit tax, the reduction of budget expenditures by 1.5 percentage points of GDP (year/year), mainly due to the decrease in the share of GDP in expenditures on salaries and social security, while in January-December 2021, investment expenditures were 6.1 billion lei higher than the same period of the previous year, and the exceptional payments generated by the COVID-19 epidemic were worth 14.76 billion lei," stated the Ministry of Finance.