Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu on Sunday told Antena3 private television channel, in relation to the protest announced by the National Trade Union Bloc (BNS) in front of the government headquarters regarding the labour taxation, that, from his point of view, when it comes to labour taxation, there should be applied certain deductions, in order to develop services.

„First of all, these taxes are not from this year, and everyone knows that labour taxation is the highest in Romania, especially labour taxation for low incomes. This is, in fact, what makes the difference between us and Europe. A third of Romanians are paid the minimum salary per economy right now. So if we come up with a deduction for the minimum salary per economy, as it happens in Germany and in all civilised countries, while the rest have a progressive taxation after certain thresholds, this will actually result in an increase [of the number of employees receiving a minimum salary – editor’s note] from a third to a half,” Ciolacu said, while referring to the unionists’ protests.

Prime minister Ciolacu emphasized that labour taxation deductions should not take place in a flat-rate system, by applying the same percentage to everyone’s salaries, because this would be totally incorrect, for it is one thing to have an income of RON 20,000 and another to have an income of RON 3,500.

„In fact, you create an even greater gap between those with low incomes and those with high incomes and you do not develop any services. The dynamics of the American economy rests on services. That is why America recovers from any crisis immediately,” explained the prime minister.

„We have been playing by ear for 30 years now and I am fed up with this manner of doing things, we need to stop improvising and follow the example of the systems that do work,” said Ciolacu.

The National Trade Union Bloc (BNS) and the 29 affiliated federations announced on Friday that they are demanding an urgent fiscal reform. They also announced a rally in front of the government headquarters on Monday, followed by a march to the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity and the Ministry of Finance.

AGERPRES