The 2009 budget aims at standing up against crisis and eliminates the way money was wasted with carelessness under the previous government, Romanian prime minister Emil Boc said in a speech held in the Parliament on Tuesday, during debates on the 2009 state budget. He said 2008 saw the strongest economic growth in Romania since the 1989 revolution, but that this growth resulted intro an "incredible" budget deficit of 5.3%.

Emil Boc's key points:

• The budget deficit forces us to stand before European institutions because of the excessive deficit
• The state budget should establish a balance between economic and social components
• Current spending rose 30% in 2008 as compared to 2007, while personnel spending rose 29% - amounting to 8% of the GDP
• Only 6% of the volume of European funds allocated for 2007 and 2008 has been absorbed
• The budget deficit reported for the last quarter of 2008 was of 16 billion RON - money spent on goods and services and personnel, not for investments
• We have a double challenge in 2009: to fight against the effects of the financial crisis and bring order in public finance
• While the 2009 budget is a budget of austerity, it is a correct budget for the future of Romania