The audit of the Accounts Chamber showed the authorities 'low ability to absorb foreign aid and the growth of taxpayers' debts to the state budget.
This is stated in the conclusion of the Accounts Chamber following the results of the financial audit of the government's report on the execution of the state budget for 2020. The auditors of the Accounts Chamber stated that, in general, the government's report reflects an accurate picture of budget execution and complies with financial reporting standards. In 2020, the state budget revenues amounted to 38.5 billion lei (by 1.2 billion lei more than the specified level, but 5.6 billion lei lower than the initially approved indicator), while expenditures amounted to 49.6 billion lei (by 3.6 billion below the level adjusted during the year and by 1.9 billion lei below the approved amount of expenditures for 2020). The state budget was executed with a deficit of 11.1 billion lei, which is 4.9 billion lei below the adjusted level and 3.7 billion lei below the approved figure. The auditors noted that in the past year, the economy was influenced by the pandemic and climate change, and this was the reason for the adjustment of the initial budget indicators. To reduce the influence of these factors, the authorities took a number of measures: a decrease in the VAT rate from 20% to 15% for the HoReCa sector, a VAT refund program was introduced, a moratorium on tax audits until the end of 2020, etc. The VAT refund amounted to 3 billion lei (about 15% of the total amount of VAT collected in the budget). This amount also includes reimbursements under the VAT refund program (190.8 million lei). According to the audit, in 2020, receipts to the accounts of budgetary institutions from external sources in the form of grants and loans amounted to about 5 billion lei, while only 2.3 billion lei was spent (44.8% of the total). At the end of the year, the balances of 1.6 billion lei were registered in the accounts of budgetary institutions, which are available for use in the 2021 budget year. Most of the funds under this item are registered in the accounts of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure (862.4 million lei), the Ministry of Finance (212.1 million lei), and the Ministry of Health (130.9 million lei). Thus, as in previous years, the audit showed a low ability of the authorities to use external assistance, and due to the pandemic, activities on some projects were suspended. Also, the conditions for receiving tranches of assistance under the budget support programs were not fully met. Last year, to combat the pandemic, two agreements on external loans were concluded in the amount of 122.9 million euros, while the country received only 510.5 million lei (less than 24 million euros), and only 38.4% of them were spent - the balance at the beginning of 2021 amounted to 314.3 million lei. The auditors also noted difficulties in reflecting arrears to the state budget. In general, taxpayers did not fulfill their obligations to the budget in the amount of 1.4 billion lei, which is 10% more than in the previous year. About 71.2% of this amount were debts on taxes and fees administered by the State Tax Service, 28.8% - on taxes administered by the Customs Service. The audit pointed out a number of inaccuracies and violations, and also made recommendations to the Ministry of Finance and its subordinate institutions. // 29.06.2021 — InfoMarket
