Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared that a tax reform will be carried out, but it will not be about new taxes. “We did not increase taxes even after taking the mandate of prime minister, although we had a deficit of 6.8%.”
Marcel Ciolacu, Prime Minister of Romania PHOTO: Archive
Ciolacu said that under no circumstances will the VAT on food and medicine be increased, because this would lead to an increase in inflation.
He recalled the digitization of ANAF that he undertook, an action not done in 30 or so years since the Revolution.
“It will be a fiscal reform that is like a fiscal year. A tax reform does not mean that more taxes will be introduced. I promised that I would digitize ANAF, after 30 or so years when no one did it. Apart from the base, we have 12 modules already in implementation with renowned companies in this field and currently we have the revenues we expected. We really encouraged investments and that's why, even if there was a surplus for the last month, we try to maintain a balance. We are not talking about new taxes. I did not increase taxes even after taking the mandate of prime minister, although we had a deficit of 6.8% and it was assumed to be around 5.7 and we closed with 5.6, 5.5%. I made certain exceptions. I also saw some very nice news. I'll tell you one thing, I, as prime minister, was under immense pressure to increase the VAT and I refused this, because it's totally incorrect, again for those with low incomes to contribute to this joint effort. Is not correct“, explained Marcel Ciolacu, when asked if after the four rounds of elections, there will be new taxes, especially since the tax reform was postponed, on Monday at the PSD headquarters in the capital, according to news.ro.
He emphasized that “under no circumstances will the VAT on food and medicines be increased”.
“This would lead to an increase in inflation. When you've reached inflation around 1%, you can think about certain measures, because it's very bad to fall to the other side, but there they usually act in other areas, in order to hold on”added Ciolacu.
The leader of the PSD reminded about exceeding one billion euros monthly in health expenses, something that has never happened before. He also talked about the digitization of the Health Center, an action that will lead to keeping certain expenses under control.
“At the moment, all that means spending on health, at this moment, we have exceeded one billion euros monthly. This has never happened and you know as well as I do that there are about 3-4 billion lei being spent on hospital infrastructure. Here we are going to reorganize and we have already done acentralized purchases at the level of the Ministry of Health and the entire health system. We are moving forward with the digitization of the Health Center, something that will bring certain expenses under control. Somehow, let's anticipate them much better. My opinion is that, first of all, I, the Government and I, the Romanian state, which I now represent as Prime Minister, must do my job before talking about new taxes”. concluded Marcel Ciolacu.
