The takeover of the government by the PNL-PSD-UDMR (National Liberal Party, Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of Hungarians of Romania) coalition offered Romania the security, stability and predictability it needed, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Friday, noting that the Government’s responsibility is to maintain balance, in a period marked by many crises, according to Agerpres.

„The takeover of the government by the PNL-PSD-UDMR coalition offered Romania the security, stability and predictability it needed, especially during this period, marked by the last wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, the energy crisis and the increasing prices of fuel, energy and natural gas, the interruption of the supply chains of raw materials and food, the inflation that covered the whole of Europe, including our country,” stated Ciuca, in a report after one year of government.

According to the Prime Minister, the government’s priorities were from the first day closely linked to the need to protect the population and the economy from these chain effects.

„Thus, through the measures taken as part of the Support Package for Romania, we came to the aid of the vulnerable and strengthened the vitality of the business environment. The increase in the incomes of Romanians to mitigate the impact of the difficult economic situation and the massive investments contributed to maintaining a social balance, by preserving jobs and the dynamics of economic growth. The absorbed European funds, along with the start of the PNRR [National Recovery and Resilience Plan – editor’s note] and the clear way we have in acceding to the OECD, provided the necessary support for our crisis management plans, in parallel with the implementation of the necessary reforms to modernize the administration and provide an optimal operating framework to the private environment,” maintained Nicolae Ciuca.

Ciuca showed that foreign direct investments will reach ten billion euros this year and, by adding the almost 90 billion lei from the national budget, the authorities were able „to fuel the pace of the necessary works at the national and local level.”

The Prime Minister also stated that it was possible to reduce the budget deficit, and the efficiency of the decisions was based on the social dialogue.

„The responsibility for the management of the public resources can be found both in the increase in the level of collection of taxes and fees, and in the decision to reduce the level of public expenses by ten percent, thus succeeding in reducing the budget deficit and entering it within the limits assumed at the European level. The efficiency of our decisions was based on the respect owed to the social dialogue partners, civil society, employers, unions, local community members and other associative structures. Thus, our common effort generated the necessary solutions in time,” Ciuca added.

The head of Executive also said that the first budget built on multi-annual programmes will balance the measures to protect the population with those necessary for the business environment and will provide the necessary resources to maintain, next year, the „positive trend of the economy,” the pace of investments that bring, while guaranteeing the financing of social packages.

He further referred to the decision to lift the CVM for Romania and NATO membership.

„2022 will remain the year when the CVM is lifted, a confirmation of the maturity reached by our country, 15 years after joining the EU. Despite the serious security challenges in our region since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the guarantees received from our strategic partners are stronger than ever, and our membership in NATO, the most important political-military organization, gives us the necessary protection to be able to build a better future for Romania,” Ciuca pointed out.

The Prime Minister also said that the Government’s responsibility is to maintain the balance „in a period marked by many crises.” „We will cross them well, as we have already demonstrated that we can, together,” concluded the PM.

Agerpres