BUCHAREST (Romania), October 9 (SeeNews) – Romania’s draft budget for 2010 envisages a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.5% and a 3.7% consumer price inflation, Bucharest-based daily Ziarul Financiar reported on Friday.
Budget revenue is estimated at 166.709 billion lei ($57.3 billion/39 billion euro), or 31.75% of the projected GDP, slightly up from 31.6% expected this year. Spending is seen at 197.904 billion lei in 2010, or 37.68% of GDP, down from 38.9% forecast for 2009, the daily quoted Finance Ministry state secretary Gheorghe Gherghina as telling local news agency Mediafax.
He said that the budget deficit for 2010 is estimated at 5.9% of GDP, which is projected at 525.1 billion lei.
Romania in August raised its budget deficit forecast for this year to 7.3% of GDP from 4.6% forecast earlier in the second budget revision so far this year to match the projections made in a 20 billion euro ($29.5 billion) aid agreement with the IMF, the European Union and the World Bank signed in late March.
The draft budget is based on an average exchange rate of 4.2 lei per euro, Gherghina said, adding the draft is likely to be approved by October 15, despite political turmoil in the country. The Parliament is due to vote on Tuesday on a no-confidence motion against Romania's minority government of the Liberal Democratic Party, PD-L.
Romania's National Prognoses Commission, CNP, said last month it sees the country's economy contracting by 7.7% this year in real terms and returning to a slim growth of 0.5% in 2010.
(1 euro=4.2843 Romanian lei)