The Alliance for the Union of Romanians submitted a simple motion to the Senate against the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, accused of selectively presenting the state of public finances. The initiators cite a difference of more than 28 billion lei between the deficit reported in cash and the one calculated according to the European ESA methodology for the first semester of 2026 and demand the periodic publication of both indicators.
The motion is entitled “The state budget at the hour of truth. The same minister, two accounts: one for Romanians, one for Brussels”, and the initiators claim that the data communicated in the country do not provide a complete picture of the budgetary situation.
“Romanians receive the convenient figures, calculated on the methodology based on cash flows, while the indicator on the basis of which the fiscal situation of Romania is evaluated in Brussels remains inaccessible to the public in the country,” the document states.
According to the data presented in the motion, the Ministry of Finance reported for the first six months of the year a cash deficit of approximately 41 billion lei. At the same time, the Eurostat data cited by AUR indicate a deficit calculated according to the ESA methodology of over 69 billion lei.
For the first quarter, the ESA deficit would have represented 7.4% of the quarterly GDP, equivalent to approximately 30 billion lei, and in the second quarter it would have reached 7.8%, i.e. over 39 billion lei.
“What was the Ministry of Finance communicating to the Romanians during the same period? A cash deficit of approximately 41 billion lei. A difference of over 28 billion lei between the photo presented to the public in Romania and the one transmitted to the European institutions,” say the initiators of the motion.
The cash deficit reflects the receipts and payments actually made by the government, while the ESA methodology takes into account liabilities as they arise, regardless of when they are paid.
In this context, the AUR claims that postponing some payments can temporarily improve the cash deficit, without the state’s obligations disappearing.
“A bill not paid on time does not mean better deficit numbers, and delaying a payment does not equate to eliminating it. Budget transparency must not stop where the uncomfortable numbers begin,” the motion states.
For the first nine months of the year, the Ministry of Finance announced a cash deficit of approximately 78 billion lei. AUR claims, however, that the ESA data for the third quarter will not be published by Eurostat until January 2027 and demands that the ministry present an updated estimate in the meantime.
Criticism regarding the retention of Nazare at the head of the Ministry of Finance
The motion also aims to keep Alexandru Nazare in office after the change of Government. AUR reminds that he led the Ministry of Finance and in the Ilie Bolojan Cabinet, dismissed following a censure motion supported by the PSD as well.
Later, the social democrats voted to invest the Government led by Luca Niculescu, in which Nazare kept his portfolio.
“The party that dismissed a government for its economic policy keeps in charge of public finances precisely the man responsible for the elaboration and application of fiscal policies. Either Alexandru Nazare was only the executor of decisions made elsewhere, or the current Government continues, in essence, the same economic policy that the PSD claimed to sanction”, the AUR senators claim.
Higher tax receipts and higher interest expenses
In the text of the motion, the data on the budget execution from the first nine months of the year are also analyzed. According to the figures cited by the AUR, VAT receipts increased by 24.8% compared to the same period in 2025, income from insurance contributions by 6.8%, and those from payroll and income taxes by 7.8%.
In the same interval, the state’s interest expenses increased by 26.8%, up to 50.6 billion lei, while capital expenses decreased by 11.6%.
“Thus, we have a fiscal policy in which the state collects more and more from citizens, pays more and more for interest and allocates less and less of the national budget for capital investments”, the initiators say.
AUR attributes the increase in VAT receipts to inflation and tax increases, and the advance of social contributions is also associated in the motion with the extension of tax obligations on some categories that previously benefited from exemptions.
AUR senators ask the Minister of Finance to change the way in which the data on budget execution are presented. The Ministry would publish at least quarterly, along with the cash deficit, an updated estimate of the deficit calculated according to the ESA methodology.
The party also requests public explanations regarding the differences between the two indicators and the effects of deferred payment obligations on state finances.
“Romanians do not ask for two accountings, Mr. Minister: one for Bucharest and another for Brussels. They ask for only one truth! Told on time and in full,” reads the end of the simple motion.
