Romanian Opp Social Democrats Call On Govt To Cut VAT Back To 19%

The senator said the request is legitimate considering IMF mission head Jeffrey Franks' statement on Wednesday that the rise of the VAT to 24% did not increase state budget revenues and did not prevent price hikes.

Vasilescu stressed that setting the VAT at 19% would help small companies survive.

According to employer federation UGIR - 1903 president Cezar Coraci, Franks said Wednesday, during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (CES), that the results of increasing the VAT were not notable due to the Government's poor administrative capacity.

Last year, the Romanian Government decided to increase the VAT by five percentage points, from 19% to 24%, as part of its austerity plan.

Joint teams from the IMF and the European Commission will be in Bucharest until February 8 for the seventh and final review of the two-year agreement and discuss the terms for the new deal.

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