Chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor said on Monday on Digi 24 private television station that the Government has taken important steps towards balancing the budget and reducing the budget deficit, however the essential reforms have yet to be implemented.

According to the UDMR leader, 2025 will end with a deficit of 8.4%, in line with the level agreed after negotiations with the European Commission and the measures taken allow for positive projections for the coming year.

„In my view, we have taken a few small steps in the right direction, towards balancing the budget and reducing the budget deficit. But we have not yet implemented reforms. The only reform attempts are in the area of special pensions for the magistrates. We’ll see what the Constitutional Court says on 28 December. There was also a reduction in spending for Education (…) and taxes were raised, primarily VAT and excise duties on fuel, alcohol, cigarettes and other excise-taxed products. Thus, (…) we reduced the budget deficit, prioritised investments, which is a good thing and we will end the year with 8.4%, the target set with the Commission (…) We couldn’t do less, because it’s almost impossible under the current conditions. In fact, we only started taking these measures after the presidential elections in May. Until then, these measures had not been taken. This means that next year we can aim for around 6.5, 6.6,” the UDMR leader said.

Kelemen Hunor underscored that the pressure on the budget remains high, including because of the interest costs on loans contracted in previous years.

„We do have a problem next year, indeed, a problem in the sense that we have to pay the interest on those loans taken on short-term and with high interest rates in 2023 and especially in 2024. This amounts to around 12 billion euros. About 3% or almost 3% of this deficit lies there. This is the heaviest burden, but on the other hand, we have the European funds from the PNRR [the National Recovery and Resilience Plan], which, if we manage to absorb, will help balance things out. Indeed, it is a very difficult period for everyone. This cannot be denied, because inflation has been relatively high and remained relatively high until December. However, I believe that from January, February, we will see a decrease in inflation and we must manage the budget very responsibly,” Kelemen Hunor added. AGERPRES