Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare told Parliament on Wednesday that the state chose not to borrow recently on the domestic market because of too high costs and that the reduction in excise duties on fuel proposed by Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan is not sustainable.
He explained that interest rates rose significantly after the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, which is why the Ministry of Finance preferred to reject banks„ bids at the latest auctions of government securities. ”When conditions improve, the Treasury will intervene," Nazare said, according to Financialintelligence.
By contrast, Romania already has €4.7 billion in external loans, taken out even before the conflict broke out, covering about half of its external financing needs for 2026.
Nazare also reacted to proposals to reduce fuel prices, rejecting the idea of a massive cut in excise duties. He stressed that a reduction of 401TPTP3T would have a budgetary impact of more than 1 billion lei per month and 12 billion lei per year, which Romania cannot afford at present.
The minister said that possible fiscal interventions, such as VAT or excise tax cuts, should be considered with caution and should be a last resort. In his opinion, the priority is to monitor the market and control economic operators to prevent unjustified price increases.
