The PM stated that budgetary stability is paramount and will necessitate continued efforts in reducing public spending.
"The VAT will not increase, nor will other taxes. I stress this, and I am a fair man to the Romanian people. But for this, we must maintain our budgetary balances. This means we need to continue making expenditure reductions," said Bolojan in an interview.
Romania currently has two VAT rates of 11% and 21%.
The PM acknowledged that solving the current annual deficit of approximately RON 30 billion (about €6.03 billion) requires a combined approach. While revenue increases have been established, the focus must now shift to controlling expenditures and strategically phasing investments.
He provided a stark example from the transportation sector, highlighting the issue of over-contracting:
"Consider that for transport, we had €5.5 billion in European funds and signed PNRR contracts for €19.5 billion. That's almost a four-fold multiplication," said the PM.
He concluded that without expenditure cuts and keeping the deficit within a normal limit, the only alternative to avoiding insolvency would be to increase revenues.
