The AUR group in the Chamber of Deputies summons Prime Minister Luca Niculescu to “Prime Minister’s Hour” on November 2, 2026, to explain the budget deficit situation

Cristiana Dida

28 October 2026, 10:30

Politics

Foto: Facebook/ Luca Niculescu

Always see our news on Google

The AUR group in the Chamber of Deputies is calling on Prime Minister Luca Niculescu to appear at “Prime Minister’s Question Time” on November 2, 2026, to present Romania’s budget deficit and the measures the Government intends to take to reduce it between 2027 and 2030.

AUR lawmakers are asking the prime minister to present the estimated deficit for 2026, calculated according to the European ESA methodology, as well as the difference from the cash deficit, which reflects the state’s actual receipts and payments. This year, the cash deficit target is 6.2% of GDP, while the ESA target is 6% of GDP.

The party is also requesting explanations for the fact that the ratio between the two figures is reversed compared with 2024 and 2025, when the deficit calculated under European rules was higher. AUR wants to know which payments related to previous years contributed to this difference.

The prime minister is also expected to present the concrete measures for reducing the deficit between 2027 and 2030, the financial impact of each measure, expressed in lei, and the target for 2028. AUR is requesting explanations on how a deficit of 2.8% of GDP will be achieved in 2030, without new taxes and without reducing public investment.

The party maintains that the Executive must appear before Parliament with precise figures, measures and deadlines, not promises.

‌,

Context: Before AUR’s requests, the parties were already disputing the differences between the “cash” deficit and the deficit calculated according to the ESA methodology

Previously, USR asked Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare to explain in Parliament the discrepancies between the official data on budget execution and the figures presented by PSD, requesting the use of information from official and transparent sources. At the same time, USR cited a budget deficit of 3.82% of GDP (78.52 billion lei) after the first nine months of 2026, compared with 5.35% of GDP during the same period of the previous year.

On the other hand, AUR senator Petrișor Peiu accused PSD and the Ministry of Finance of concealing the actual size of the deficit, criticizing the fact that the authorities had communicated one figure without also presenting the figure calculated according to the European ESA standard. In the same vein, former Prime Minister Florin Cîțu disputed the ministry’s explanations and cited Eurostat data according to which the deficit had increased to 9.2% of GDP (on the seasonally adjusted series), pointing out that the differences stem from the method of calculation and the way the figures are reported (quarterly versus cumulative).