The Ministry of Finance has prepared both the excise tax reduction mechanism and the voluntary contribution mechanism, and the adoption of one of them will take place on Thursday or Friday, announced the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, on Wednesday.
„We have prepared all the options. We have also prepared the gradual reduction of excise duty when international quotations and national prices rise. So we have prepared this option. We have also prepared the option that was adopted in 2022, the voluntary contribution. I don't want to give a figure now, but it's about the mechanism. Both mechanisms, the excise duty reduction mechanism and the voluntary contribution mechanism, are prepared. Discussions will continue today at the Government, and we are ready to submit one of the two mechanisms to be adopted this week. That is, tomorrow or Friday,” stated Alexandru Nazare, according to Agerpres.
He specified that the Ministry of Finance proposes the options, evaluates the impact, and refines the mechanisms, but the decision will be made within the coalition.
He also mentioned that there is a prepared text targeting the exceptional profits of companies during this period, which are unrelated to their current activities.
„What I can tell you is the following. That at the moment we have the option of voluntary contribution or excise duty reduction. It will be a decision within the coalition and the government on this matter to meet the deadline of Friday. And this issue related to speculative profits is a solidarity contribution that was applied in Romania in 2022. Granted, the way it was applied is debatable, but it was adopted. So it is a solidarity contribution,” explained Alexandru Nazare.
Asked why Romania is not considering reducing VAT on fuel, he stated that all options are being analyzed, but they must be assumed.
„We haven't rejected any option. We just need to fully commit to them within the coalition. Whatever option we decide on, whatever scenario we decide on, we must commit to it until the end. When we act on VAT, as other countries have done, we accept an infringement. The pre-infringement letter has already arrived for the countries that acted here. We are not in the same situation as other countries.
We have an excessive deficit, a deficit that remains the largest in the European Union. The markets are looking at us differently. We are not in the same situation. We are not a country that has managed its deficits responsibly over a longer term, so that markets would show leniency. We are a country that did manage to save its rating last year, and we must be very careful how we act. That is why, yes, this option can be open if we accept an infringement and everything that follows from this matter, and if we find a credible source of funding,” stated the Minister of Finance.
According to him, the option of reducing excise duty is one that does not entail an infringement.
„We still have enough room to reduce the excise tax, and the range we proposed is between 5 and 15% depending on market conditions, so that we do not have an infringement,” said Alexandru Nazare.
When asked by journalists about the impact of the measure to be adopted, he mentioned he would not venture to provide figures until a decision is made.
At the same time, the Minister of Finance stated that the state has not achieved very high revenues during this period as a result of the increase in energy product prices because part of the fuel is purchased by companies that deduct VAT.
„And anyway, all the additional revenues we have, we are already redistributing. We have the scheme for transporters in place. 85 bani for transporters. It was not forecast to be 85 bani, it was forecast to be 65. It was not forecast to be in effect for the whole year. We extended it for the whole year and increased the support effect to 85. We used these resources and all the resources we have will be redistributed in such a way as to help the population. We are not keeping this money from the VAT, from the energy products area, we are not keeping it for consolidation. But at the same time, I don't want to downplay the fact that we must continue and be responsible, because we have the same targets by the end of the year and they matter enormously in the evaluations we have,” declared Alexandru Nazare.