“We will go ahead with requests for additional dividends. We are now putting together a set of measures to support the economy. We are evaluating all the resources we have for potential revenue, be they borrowing from the international market, from the domestic market, that is bank loans, bonds sold to consumers, institutional financing, European funds,” Ludovic Orban told ZF over the phone.
The state-run companies in Romania could pay additional dividends in 2020 because of the rising budget deficit and lockdown that affected the economy have put tremendous pressure on public finance. The European Commission expects 9.2% budget deficit for Romania in 2020 and 11.4% in 2021, the highest in the entire Europe. The government therefore has to find sources of funding.
“The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment is now reviewing the investment plans of its companies. We will then see which of them we can request additional dividends from, depending on their resources. It will be a median of that they need and what we need,” Orban said, adding he could not provide a figure for the additional dividends for the time being.
ZF reported in the second half of April that the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment sent the companies subordinated to it an order demanding them to devise a five-year investment plan to balance the economy after the crisis.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)