The Bucharest General Council is almost one month behind the schedule of the local budget adoption already, because general mayor Sorin Oprescu has not even put the project up for public debate as required by the local public finance law.
The explanation, although not publicly revealed, is that the municipality will get 30% less money this year than in 2011, a year which is already complicated as final budget projections show revenue will reach RON3.2 billion instead of RON4.4 billion (EUR1 billion).
According to the public finance law, the local budget has to be approved within 45 days from the publication in the Official Journal, which means Bucharest’s budget should have been approved by February 10. The Finance Ministry has already stopped allocating money to the City Hall from the public budget unless it gets its own budget approved.
The city council has not seen the budget draft yet, but deputy mayor Mircea Raicu says it will be 30% lower than in 2011 (by RON1 billion i.e.) as the city can no longer rely on money from past loans, which it used up. According to the deputy mayor, the city had EUR150 million from foreign loans to use for investments last year.
Things are complicated for general mayor Sorin Oprescu, a few months before the local elections where he seeks a second term. He has to show his achievements of his first four years in office and could mention here the Basarab Overpass and the National Arena stadium, which others started, but were completed during his term. Yet the works he started or took over while in their early stages such as the North-South road or the Uranus-Berzei-Buzesti road that should be completed this year might be delayed because of the lack of cash.
Therefore, the budget draft has not been completed yet because expenses have to be adjusted to match the revenue of the city precisely, and a problem comes up: where to cut one billion lei from, which is a sizeable amount for a budget that has been dwindling for several years.
Raicu does not think any major investment work will be started this year for lack of cash, and those already in progress will slow down. He added cuts would most likely be made in public services.
Municipal councilor Doru Giugulea believes the budget might be approved during the next meeting of the city council, but says it might be lower than in the previous years.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)