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Lazea: Competitive Romania is the only strategy which has budget and prioritisation: the budget for 5 years is of 17 billion euro
The programme ‘ Competitive Romania’ the strategy which means to ensure quick convergence of Romania to the countries in Western Europe has a budget for the first five years of implementation of 10.5% of GDP 17 billion euro respectively, considers the head economist of the National Bank of Romania(BNR), Valentin Lazea.
‘The main challenge is the convergence with the countries in Western Europe. To reach from 57% of the European average GDP/inhabitant to 75% in the next 10 years, Romania should grow sustainably with almost 5% in each of the next 1o years. The bad news is that this rhythm cannot be reached only through fiscal and monetary policies but with structural reforms. What does potential GDP mean, or potential growth? It is that growth rhythm which does not produce imbalance in the economy.Now in Romania the potential GDP is 3% not 4%, not 5%, not 5.2%’ Lazea said.
According to him, the new programme does not represent another strategy, besides the 365 strategies in different institutions in Romania and in different stages of elaboration or implementation which, have no budget or priority.
‘This strategy is not 366,but the only with budget and priority (…) There have been identified 16 domains which can contribute to the GDP growth (…) There were identified 41 strategic objectives, divided in 90 measures. They were prioritised and budgeted: the cumulated budget for the next five years is 10% of GDP or 17 billion euro, out of which two thirds are already in the ministries’ budget’ the BNR representative said.
He reminded the fact that, in case the economy growth over the potential, stimulated only by different policies, the rhythem will be reversed sooner or later.
Lazea spoke about another feature of this strategy , that of concentration on the real sector of the economy, the way in which the ‘ cake’ namely GDP can be increased, not the way in which it could be divided.
The BNR head economist said that the strategy for which experts in the government, the National bank of Romania and the Romanian Academy have been working for almost half a year will be presented to the population and the political parties until the end of October.
Lazea added that the measures included in the strategy make sense from the political point of view as well as economically as they have effect on short term, so that they could be included on the list of any party, be it right or left.