Parliament has approved the 2021 Romanian budget law by 234 votes to 170, which means the budget bill has passed without any amendments. The Social Democrat Party had warned that it would be raining amendments, but none of the 3,600 submitted by the opposition passed (via Digi24).
“It is a first to see the budget law voted in without any amendments. This shows we are a strong coalition and ready to resist for the next four years,” Romanian PM Florin Cîțu said at the end of the joint session of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. “We have built this budget with record investments and reforms, ones everyone has refrained from introducing until now, and it is more than timely to do so now. This budget forces reform,” the PM added.
“We were late with the budget because we needed to prepare it properly, and we have succeeded in elaborating on a well-defined budget law. Beyond reducing the deficit, we have even managed to invest in all important sectors, from infrastructure to education and the environment. These investments will change Romania,” Hunor Kelemen, President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (known by its Hungarian acronym RMDSZ) said.
During the 2021 Romanian budget law debate, Cîțu highlighted key areas of the proposed bill. The government has RON 10 billion more income than in 2020 and RON 20 billion more than in 2019. RON 89 billion has been set aside for social assistance, and RON 87 billion for the pension system (with an excess of RON 7.7 billion, because the value of pension points increased this year).
During the debate, opposition party members claimed the government was taking money away from children, pensioners, and students.
Title image: The stunning interior of the Parliament building. Image source: cdep.ro
