Ilie Bologian said that he took over Romania “with his back to the wall“, and ahead of the expected vote on the new government, he is handing it over “to the path of proper recovery“. The Prime Minister presented his assessment on October 19 at Victoria Palace, the day before the parliamentary vote on Luca Niculescu's cabinet.
“After almost 16 months, during which I had the honor of serving Romania as Prime Minister, my mandate is coming to an end“, Bologian said. He described the period as marked by internal and external crises and pointed out that the country was faced with a budget deficit of 9.3% of gross domestic product, a blocked National Recovery and Resilience Plan and a real risk of insolvency.
The beginning was made with unpopular measures
According to Bologjan, in June 2025, no politician wanted to take over the prime minister's post due to the difficult financial situation. He said that the European Commission and the financial markets no longer accepted promises, but demanded immediate measures.
The government began with an increase in the value-added tax, which, according to the prime minister, was necessary to secure revenues and limit the deficit. Bologian acknowledged that the decisions have affected households, workers, entrepreneurs and pensioners.
“We did not hide anything from Romanians, we did not change the figures and we refused to make empty promises“, Bologian said.He said that the decline in consumption was the result of ending the model based on debt-financed consumption. As the goal of the budget adjustment, the prime minister indicated the preservation of funds for investment and the gradual transition to growth based on production and competitiveness.
What problems remain for the next cabinet
Bologian said that his government is leaving the budget on a stabilization trajectory, but warned of several structural problems. Among them are court decisions in cases of magistrates who have created liabilities of over 5 billion lei.
In the energy sector, 3.7 billion lei have been allocated for old compensation schemes this year, with around 1.5 billion already paid. Bologian pointed out that some of the bills still need to be verified.
According to him, in healthcare, the number of insured people has increased from 6.5 million to 10.5 million, but the system still needs structural balancing.
Another problem is the scale of transport infrastructure contracts. They exceed 30 billion euros with an average annual budget of around 6 billion euros. Under the “Angel Salini“ program, local authorities expect payments on invoices for 2.4 billion lei.
Bologian insisted that the future cabinet maintain a cautious budget policy and not return to populism. The parliamentary vote on Luca Niculescu's government is scheduled for October 20.
Sources: agerpres.ro, romaniajournal.ro, romania-actualitati.ro