Liberal MEP Siegfried Muresan, a former prime minister-designate, says the Social Democratic Party (PSD) is asking Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare to publicly present 'Romania's real economic situation' merely to justify its own failure, questioning why the Social Democrats reappointed a minister whom they suggest had concealed the truth from the public.

'The PSD's attempts to manipulate the public over the country's finances won't get them very far. The PSD's real governing strategy has been obvious from day one: to blame the 'difficult legacy it inherited' for everything it promised but knows it cannot deliver, from wage and pension hikes to VAT cuts and much more. To explain away its failure, the PSD is now calling on the finance minister to publicly present 'Romania's actual economic situation'. So, are we to believe that until now, the PSD had no accurate picture of the economy?' Muresan wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

According to the Liberal politician, the problem is that the current finance minister held the same position in the Bolojan government.

'If the PSD is suggesting that the minister has not presented Romania's real economic situation until now, why did they keep him in government? Why would you reappoint a minister whom you claim has concealed the truth from the public? And if the PSD retained Minister Nazare because of the good work he has done over the past year, why is it now questioning the economic assessment presented by that same minister?' Muresan added.

In his view, the PSD is in fact fully aware of Romania's economic situation, 'knows what damage the Ciolacu government caused' and that 'much of it was repaired by the Bolojan government', and understands that efforts to reduce wasteful spending must continue.

'The PSD also knows that its grand populist promises cannot be put into practice and that we need sustainable economic growth. It is now trying to manipulate Romanians by pretending it was unaware of the situation. The PSD takes us for fools. We're not,' Muresan said.

PSD chairman Sorin Grindeanu on Tuesday called on the finance minister to publicly present the country's 'real' economic situation.

'I have asked the finance minister to publicly present Romania's real economic situation so that we can have a complete picture of the consolidated budget. We want to know what we can rely on when drawing up measures for 2027,' Grindeanu wrote on Facebook. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Alina Novaceanu; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)