Ex-designated PM: There are money for salaries and pensions * The unique income tax and VAT must not be modified in the next two years

Romania has got the money for pensions and incomes, but having the third IMF instalment delayed would scare the investors, increase inflation, depreciate the national currency and swell interests. These are Lucian Croitoru’s predictions, the man who was designated PM, told to RFI.

Lucian Croitoru said he did not regret his designated PM experience and the Parliament’s vote:

• The result of the investment vote of the Parliament was not the best regarding Romania’s interests, but from a personal experience perspective, it was very interesting, it allowed me to understand better the political process in Romania. I regret that, unfortunately, the political judgements shadowed by the campaign have profoundly affected the economic judgement. I accepted to be Prime Minister in a very difficult moment. I took on the mission to get out of this difficult moment from the instant I had been designated.

Lucian Croitoru explains what a delay of the third MF instalment might mean for Romania:

• „Firstly, a deterioration of the foreign investors’ trust in the local process stability. It is obvious that losing this trust could be reflected in the deterioration of some macro-economic factors, would increase pressures for the national currency depreciation, which would later translate in a high inflation. These two combined will lead to the increase in interests. All three will lead to an increasing pressure favouring a deteriorating situation, addressing both the country’s financial system and the real system.”

• „Salaries and pensions will be paid, I have no doubt about this issue. What will continue to remain a problem is that in order to pay the salaries and pensions, should the agreements not be taken all the way through, the Romanian state will not be able to make other payments and this would probably increase the volume of the tax returns which the state extends in the private sector. In other words, it will get a loan, it will not pay it’s duties to other parties, which has a high cost for the enterprises’ sector.