Romanian Prime-Minister: We are not currently working on increasing the VAT or the unique income tax 

Romanian Prime Minister declared on Tuesday that the Government has limited the negative effects of the economic crisis and has fulfilled its social obligation. The statement was made during an economic seminar organised by Business Standard, where several other economic measures were exposed.

According to Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc, the April inflation in Romania was half of the March inflation; the leu-euro exchange rate is becoming stable; the exports’ rate recorded on March was way over the February exports; and the growth in unemployment has slowed down. The level of investments was good he reckoned. In addition, Boc declared the Government was „not currently working on increasing the VAT or the unique income tax”.

Romanian Prime-Minister said the Government intended to accelerate the decentralisation process, so that the Health would benefit from it by September 1, and the rest of the departments – by January 1. The budget will grant 20% to infrastructure.

Boc is certain that the agreement with the IMF will lead to banks starting to lend. The Government will continue to support the business environment, according to the Romanian Prime Minister, who believes the Government managed to limit the negative impact of the economic crisis.

The president of Capital Partners Doru Lionachescu said the Government was wasting too much time in a social dialog and that the ministers were not skilled enough. He said the dialog with Romania’s Central Bank (BNR) was unbalanced, leading toward monetary authority. Romania has no communication mechanism to address local and foreign investors, he added.

Referring to infrastructure, Romanian Transport Minister Radu Berceanu declared that long-term projects were not prioritised, which led to inconsistent work. According to him, national projects should be supported regardless which party is in power and the Government’s support must be more predictable.