The revenues and spending of the local administration in Romania went up seven times in ten years, from RON6.2 billion in 2000 to almost RON44 billion (EUR10 billion) in 2010 and a similar figure in 2011.
Whoever wins the elections will share this EUR40 billion over the next four years, with the fight set to be life and death.
EUR2 billion per year is the spending of local administration on goods and services alone, which means there will be EUR8 billion available to spend locally over the next four years, in an area which has always been under suspicion of unclean practices.
Loans made by the local administration, which are part of the public debt, in turn rose significantly as revenues rose: they went from RON3.3 million in 2000 to RON13.7 billion at the end of 2011.
The local debt now accounts for 5.6% of the overall public debt of RON222 billion (38.5% of GDP), according to the Ministry of Public Finances.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)