Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday that the state intervenes when a cartel is created on the market, and if the Government had not intervened „on the energy cap,” Romania would have had an inflation „beginning with 3.”

He was asked how he commented on the fact that the liberals are opposed to capping the trade surplus at 20% for Romanian food.

„I don’t think so. Maybe the whole concept is not well understood. That concept was implemented in France, on the same logic, so that domestic producers would be protected. We don’t have a majority retail system with Romanian capital, which has happened, for example, in Poland, and then you have to look for solutions to protect the local producers, because retail can impose certain additions. (…) I believe that when certain surcharges are lower for imported products and higher for domestic products, and then domestic producers must close down because they are no longer competitive, but not because of the production price, but because of the selling price on the shelf, then the state has the obligation to intervene,” said Ciolacu after visiting the „16 Februarie” Market in Bucharest.

He added that if the Government had not intervened on the energy cap, Romania would have had inflation „beginning with 3.”

„I’ll say it again. Remember when I came out with the energy price cap? There was a philosopher at the time prime minister who said that I am destroying the competitive market, the economy. If I hadn’t intervened then with Mr. Ciuca on the energy cap, Romania would have had an inflation rate beginning with 3. The state intervenes when a cartel is created on the market and at that moment the Competition Council can intervene and, to be quick, the state intervenes and then the market adjusts,” said Ciolacu.

AGERPRES