The budget deficit this year could represent 3.2% of the Gross Domestic Product. According to Minister of Finance Octavian Armasu, this is over 4 billion lei. The Ministry plans to cover the deficit with external financing and with earnings from privatization, IPN reports.

“We received new macroeconomic indicators that will used to form the budget and in the discussions with foreign backers. We are now finishing the calculations and are trying to adjust the budget to the real economic conditions,” stated Octavian Armasu.

According to the minister, the current costs of 2.4 billion lei were almost fully covered in January. “At the end of January, we had a positive balance of 800 million lei. This money will be used to cover the main budget costs at the start of February. Our estimates show that if we reduce the costs to the strict necessities, we will be able to cope until the external financing is unblocked,” said Octavian Armasu.

As to the fiscal policy, the minister said that the draft was published and is to be discussed with civil society and the business community. It could be submitted to Parliament for adoption by the end of next week.

Last yearend, the 2015 state budget was amended following the difficult economic situation in the country. In the November 20 meeting of Parliament, the lawmakers voted to cut the budget incomes by about 1 billion lei, while the expenditure will decrease by approximately 1.6 billion lei.