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Minister Dragu: the draft 2017 national budget will be drawn up by the next government
the next government and passed by the next parliament.
"According to the law, the national budget in electoral years is drawn up by ten ensuing government and passed by the ensuing parliament. The Budget Department with the Finance Ministry does not go unemployed. There is a budgetary process the entire year, but the budget proper is drawn up by the next government and passed by the next parliament," Dragu told the MPs is response to whether or not the Finance Ministry was working on the national budget for the next year.
Dragu was in Parliament for a Government Question Time to report on the latest developments in proposals for amending the Tax Code envisaged by the Government, the position of the Finance Ministry on the structural deficit and the introduction of tax amnesty, convened by the National Liberal Party (PNL) group.
According to her, the Finance Ministry is not contemplating any increase in rate or taxes and it does not want a change in fiscal thinking either. She then mentioned the level of Government's receipts and staying within the budget deficit limits this year and in the medium run.
"At the end of the first eight months of the current year, the budget deficit was at a small level, of just 0.42 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the deficit in the recently approved budget revision was kept at 2.8 percent of the GDP in cash terms and 2.95 percent of the GDP in European methodology terms. We can see no danger of us overshooting the budget deficit target in 2016. What's more, the reserves funds with the Treasury are estimated to cover five months of funding, which is a sufficient level according to the best international cash management practices," said Dragu.
She added that the revision also aimed at providing additional funds for the healthcare and education systems, while also securing money for the payment of public wages and pensions throughout the year. At the same time, funds necessary for implementing pieces of legislation adopted this year were also secured.
"Under this budget revision, we also earmarked additional funds worth 2.3 billion lei for the implementation of legislative measures passed by the Government and Parliament. In the first months of 2016, the taxes collected by the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) reached 132.4 billion lei, which means 1.2 percent over the level at the same point last year, or 1.6 billion lei, despite cuts in the Value-Added Tax (VAT)," said Dragu.
Dragu was in Parliament for a Government Question Time to report on the latest developments in proposals for amending the Tax Code envisaged by the Government, the position of the Finance Ministry on the structural deficit and the introduction of tax amnesty, convened by the National Liberal Party (PNL) group.