After the first three quarters, the budget recorded a surplus of 0.06% of the projected gross domestic product for this year, the Finance Ministry said Monday. In January-September 2013, Romania posted a budget deficit of 1.3% of GDP.
For the whole year, Romania aims to keep the deficit below 2.2% of GDP.
In the first nine months, the consolidated budget registered revenue of 155.4 billion lei (EUR35.1 billion), up 5.5% on the year in nominal terms. Public spending went down 0.3% compared with January-September 2013, to RON155 billion.
The revenue increase was due to higher revenue from the sale of emission certificates and property taxes, the ministry said. The sales tax, the excise duties and the corporate tax also brought more money than last year.
The spending dropped a little compared with the similar period of 2013, despite a 3.7% in public salary expenditure. Funds for public investments decreased to RON16.5 billion, from RON19.4 billion in the first nine months of last year, as allocations for EU-funded projects were 11% lower, while capital spending was down 24%.
In 2013, Romania posted a budget deficit of 2.5% of GDP.