PUBLIC EXPENDITURES FOR DEVELOPMENT - THEIR ROLE IN OVERCOMING THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ALIGNMENT OF ROMANIA TO EUROPEAN UNION REQUIREMENTS

This paper analyses the role of public capital expenditure in Romania. There were identified two important roles of public expenditures for development in Romania, currently: levers for overcoming the economic crisis, and a means to align Romania to European Union requirements stipulated in the revised Lisbon Strategy. The analysis concluded that these expenses, although with a relative value twice the EU average, experienced a strong downward trend with the economic crisis, so as they have not contributed to economic recovery. Regarding the second role, matching the EU requirements in development, has not been reached. This is demonstrated by the Lisbon index, according to which in 2008 Romania ranked 25th place, while in 2010 situated Romania only on position 26.