Budget, speedily approved by specialised committees, with minimum concessions from ruling MPs

The Parliament’s budget-finance committees passed the draft laws on the state budget and social security budget in just two days, accepting only minimum concessions compared to the 11,000 amendments submitted by the opposition.
The fast pace at which the committees drew up the budget reports is setting the stage for the Parliament to give its final vote this week.
Thus, MPs will not be forced to return from the winter holidays to continue discussions on the budget, a restrictive one according to the opposition and public sector employees.
The budget draft objectives include taking fiscal consolidation further, cutting the budgetary gap to 4.4% in GDP from 6.8% in GDP this year, and further reducing current expenditures, as Finance Minister Gheorghe Ialomițianu himself announced.
The opposition’s amendments regarding micro-enterprises’ possibility of opting for a tax of 3% in turnover and the criteria for sum allocation to local authorities were accepted by the ruling coalition, according to Mediafax.