One of the priorities of the Finance Ministry is to enter this year with respect for the honest business environment and with the state's obligations fully up to date, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare wrote on Thursday in a Facebook post.
"Respecting the state's obligations towards the business environment is not only a matter of fairness and credibility, but also a rule of good faith and predictability in its relationship with the real economy. Romania's economy has demonstrated a high level of resilience in the context of the fiscal and budgetary measures adopted last year and, even though a growth was modest, it has not destabilised - despite the most alarmist forecasts. This is entirely due to the real economy, to Romanians and to honest entrepreneurs, who managed to perform even under fiscal stress and who supported the functioning of the state and the record level of budget revenues by paying taxes on time. That is why, one of the main priorities is to enter 2026 with respect for the honest business environment and with the state's obligations fully met," the Finance Minister said.
According to him, in December the institution directed nearly 3.5 billion lei to the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) to cover the costs of medicines and medical services provided by hospitals, as well as for the reimbursement of medical leave. Through these payments, the companies which advanced the amounts from their own resources receive the due reimbursements, which in turn help balance financial flows in the economy.
"We have also started paying 3 percent bonuses to SMEs that settled their taxes on time. It is about over 150,000 companies, which will receive more than 160 million lei in total; at the same time, we have accelerated VAT reimbursements to requesting companies to improve their liquidity and support the continuity of economic activity. This injection of funds means greater predictability for the economy and entrepreneurs in 2026, increased investment capacity, protected jobs and a business climate based on fairness and a real partnership between the state and the private sector. Also, to uphold the state's obligations towards the business environment, including by honouring payments in its dealings with companies, we enter 2026 with a number of objectives already achieved: 12 billion lei transferred at the end of the year to support the economy through the second 2025 budget revision, allocations from the reserve fund and redistributions of budget allocations for EU-funded programmes; fiscal relaxation measures such as the gradual reduction of the minimum turnover tax (IMCA), tax and credit facilities for microenterprises and SMEs, and the elimination of the special construction tax from next year; all complemented by measures of financial discipline and expenditure reduction, including cuts to subsidies for political parties," Alexandru Nazare mentioned.
He mentioned that adopting this package of pro-business measures represents a first in recent years in Romania and that the budgetary effort to settle debts is unprecedented in a country that used to roll over debts from one year to the next.
"And the entire fiscal space created for these payments is the result of several correct decisions made together with my colleagues at the Finance Ministry and the Government: we managed to transfer some PNRR [the National Recovery and Resilience Plan] projects from the loan component to the grant component, thus securing additional non-reimbursable European funds; we moved part of the PNRR projects to cohesion policy programmes, ensuring further non-reimbursable EU funds; through an unprecedented effort by ANAF [National Agency of Fiscal Administration] and a fair approach towards honest businesses, we achieved budget revenues above initial estimates, confirming the realism of the fiscal measures adopted; we made significant savings in personnel expenses following the reduction of harmful working condition allowances and EU fund allowances; and we limited spending on goods and services in the last part of the year, particularly at local public authorities, despite some critical reactions," Nazare pointed out.
In his view, the state must be a fair and predictable partner for the business environment. "This is the foundation of a healthy economic climate and the direction in which we must build the relationship between the state and the real economy in 2026 and the years ahead," the Finance Minister added on his social media page.
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