EnglishThe European Commission warned Romania and other Members that their economies were at high risk because rising public debt could hurt their ability to meet future needs for public spending. The Commission warned all Members that they could not rely on fast economic growth to reduce debt, because Europe was facing a problem that would "dwarf the effect of the crisis many times over" - an aging population where fewer employees would pay higher pensions and health care contributions for more pensioners.
• Finance Ministry argues that the public debt is low
Although the European Commission has mentioned Romania among the countries being warned about the risks to their economy, representatives of the Finance Ministry say the country is not in a situation where it cannot afford any more public spending.
"According to the Treaty of Maastricht, our public debt is below the risk level and I do not think that we have any reasons to worry. If they are warning us about a public debt of 20 per cent, what should they do about Italy, which has long exceeded 100 per cent," Gheorghe Gherghina, Secretary of State with the Finance Ministry, told BURSA.
The same situation applies to Great Britain, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Cyprus, all having been nominated as facing high risks and invited to present "ambitious" budget programmes to reduce debt.
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