“I give you sad news”

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances on Wednesday that “there will be no VAT rate increase” next year.

He made these clarifications when asked about the option, circulated in the public space by various economic specialists, regarding tax increases next year, in the context of the negotiations that the Minister of Finance is conducting in Brussels, at the European Commission, regarding the plan of measures regarding the reduction budget deficit.

“I give you sad news today, there will be no VAT rate increase. The discussions between the Minister of Finance and the European Commission have just ended. He had meetings today as well, in an hour he will get on the plane and come home and I am convinced that he will inform me and Mr. President Nicolae Ciucă, as is normal”, declared Marcel Ciolacu.

He stated that the news from Brussels is good.

“Normally, it’s good news and we’ll discuss it in detail tomorrow (no – Thursday). It means we won’t raise taxes. Sir, we have a tax evasion of 10% of GDP, we have the largest VAT GAP, we have certain uncontrolled expenses, for example in the field of Health, where, from my point of view, the new legislation that we passed Government, together with the Minister of Finance, is correct. Respectively, let’s have centralized purchases for the entire health system, we can’t buy a syringe, some buy it for 1 lei, others buy it for 3 lei, the same syringe. It has to end, we are in 2024, the outlawry in Romania is over. All this ordering will automatically lead to a reduction in expenses”, Ciolacu pointed out.

The Prime Minister declared himself totally in agreement regarding the implementation of a “budgetary reform”.

“We can’t carry on, digitize, it’s mandatory, and, again, I’m sorry, it will be over by 2026. We can’t complain anymore and we can’t find reasons anymore, because otherwise we lose the money from PNRR. (…) Romania is modernizing, there will be no fees and taxes, and what’s more, there will be no increase in VAT because that would mean stupidity. Any increase in VAT brings inflation of 0.5%, we have just brought inflation from double digits, we have brought it below 5%. Is it the first time that we have an increase in consumption and an increase in the standard of living, now we are starting from the beginning again?”, said Ciolacu.

The Head of the Executive made the clarifications before participating in the launch of the construction project of a new psychiatric hospital for children within the Clinical Psychiatric Hospital “Prof. Dr. Alexandru Obregia”, a project carried out on the basis of a collaboration protocol between the Bucharest Hospitals and Medical Services Administration and the Metropolis Philanthropic Foundation.