Romania's financial figures are much better than they were a year ago and six months ago, President Nicusor Dan said on Wednesday evening at the end of his official visit to Prague.

At a press conference held at the Romanian Embassy in the Czech Republic, the head of state was asked how much the current political situation affects the country's rating being prepared by Standard & Poor's and what type of assessment he expects in the coming days.

'I do not want to anticipate an assessment by a third party, but for Romania's citizens and financial institutions, particularly those that have lent to Romania, I want to repeat a few things. Romania's financial figures are much better than they were a year ago and six months ago. And that is statistics, it is not a subjective matter,' the head of state said.

Nicusor Dan underscored that 'on important issues, there is consensus among Romania's political class, the pro-Western parties.'

'You have seen that, on SAFE [Security Action for Europe], we have also passed the percentage of contracts, if we look at the percentage of contracts signed as a criterion, compared with the amounts borrowed by each of the states, Romania is among the top European countries. It was an effort. Of course, ideally, we would have passed the important PNRR [National Recovery and Resilience Plan] laws two years ago, three years ago, but it was an effort, MPs came back from their holidays, joined online from wherever they were and important laws - biodiversity, the ANI [National Integrity Agency], all these - were passed by Parliament and we are at 92% on the PNRR, which is reasonable for an administration such as Romania's. So, good figures and consensus on the important issues and, if all political leaders say 'we will maintain the financial trajectory', it means that this will happen,' the president said.

The head of state also said that 'all political leaders agree that the person at the Finance Ministry, regardless of the Government, will be a professional in this area.'

'That is the message I have given at several meetings with investors, because it is normal for us to reassure them, as the reality on the ground often differs somewhat from what is presented in a more alarmist manner by certain media outlets or on social media,' Nicusor Dan underscored.

Standard & Poor's will publish its country report on 2 October, after Fitch and Moody's kept Romania in the investment-grade category in July and August. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Andreea Rotaru; EN - writing by: Rodica State)

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