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Romania The State Budget
The Ministry of Finance directed the formulation of a
detailed
annual state budget, which was submitted to the GNA for
approval
and enactment into law. In theory, budget allocations took
into
account the analyses performed by the branch coordinating
councils,
the various ministries, their subordinate centrale
and
enterprises, and the executive committees of judet
and
municipal people's councils. But in reality, as the
instrument for
financing the Unitary National Socioeconomic Plan, the
state budget
was under Ceausescu's firm control. The Council of
Ministers had
responsibility for supervising its implementation. The
state budget
typically was approved in December and went into effect on
January 1, the beginning of the
fiscal year (see Glossary),
with expected
revenues precisely offsetting authorized expenditures.
Actual
revenues and expenditures realized during the preceding
year were
officially announced at the same time, and the balance was
carried
over into the new state budget. Revenue estimates were set
at the
minimum level, while expenditures represented absolute
ceilings.
Consequently, budget surpluses were not unusual,
particularly
during the austere 1980s, when the top economic priority
was
elimination of the foreign debt. For example, a total
surplus of
102 billion lei (for value of the
leu--see Glossary)
was accumulated during the years 1980-84, and in 1987 alone a
53.2
billion lei surplus was registered.
The consolidated state budget was divided into national
and
local budgets. In 1989 local budget revenues were forecast
to be
25,446.8 million lei, while expenditures were set at only
14,078.7
million lei. The surplus of more than 11 billion lei was
to be
transferred to the national treasury to finance "society's
overall
development," a euphemism for centrally controlled
capital
investment at the expense of consumer goods and services.
Data as of July 1989
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