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Budget deficit in Q1 reached RON 4.46 bn, 0.48 pc of GDP
The execution of the consolidated general state budget for the first quarter of 2018 ended with a deficit – expenditures higher than revenues – of RON 4.46 billion, namely 0.48 percent of GDP, figures released by the Ministry of Public Finance (MFP) reveal, romaniajournal.ro informs.
The deficit is below the level projected for the period under review of 0.97 percent of GDP (RON 8.96 billion).
The revenues of the consolidated general state budget, amounting to RON 66.4 billion, representing 7.2 percent of GDP, were by 11.5 percent higher, in nominal terms, as compared to the same period of the previous year. Year-on-year increases in social contributions (+31.1 percent) and non-tax revenues (+17 percent) were recorded.
VAT revenues in the first three months were RON 13.3 billion, which is a 2.2 percent increase over the same period of the previous year. And the excise tax revenues amounted to RON 5.8 billion (0.6 percent of GDP) by 2.6 percent higher than in the same period of the previous year. The revenue from taxes on property increased by 4.5 percent over the same period of 2017.
There were decreases in revenues from wage and income tax of 14.9 percent amid cut income tax from 16 percent to 10 percent as of January 1, 2018.
Amounts from the European Union to the payments made were worth RON 4.3 billion.
According to MFP, the consolidated general state budget expenditures in January – March 2018 amounted to RON 70.84 billion, up by 22.1 percent as compared to the first three months of the previous year.
Personnel costs increased by 18.1 percent against the same period of the previous year, the increase being due to wage increases granted in 2017.
In terms of subsidies, they are up 26.7 percent against the same period of the previous year, while social assistance expenditures increased by 11.8 percent year on year.
Not least, expenditures for investments, including capital expenditures, as well as those related to development programmes financed from internal and external sources, amounted to RON 4.9 billion, almost 3 times more than in the same period last year.