Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said on Sunday evening, during a Digi 24 interview, that the VAT rate and other taxes will not increase next year, reaffirming the need to continue spending cuts in order to maintain budgetary balance.

„The value-added tax will not increase, nor will other taxes. I want to stress that – I’ve always been honest with Romanians. But to achieve this, we must maintain our budgetary balance. That means continuing to cut spending. With an annual deficit of 30 billion lei, we cannot fix things only by increasing revenues or only by cutting costs – both are needed,’ Bolojan said.

He added that the government must also stagger its investments, given the overcontracting of projects, noting that „at the Ministry of Transport alone, we had EUR 5.5 billion in European funds but signed PNRR contracts worth EUR 19.5 billion.”

The prime minister underlined the need for reform and staff reductions in both central and local administrations, saying there is „no other solution.”

„That is why I have constantly emphasised that reforming local public administration, alongside central administration reform – which means, like it or not, staff reductions – is a necessity. Otherwise, these debts, interest payments and fixed costs will continue to weigh us down, regardless of who is in government,” he explained.

Bolojan stressed that measures must have „real effects,” not just symbolic ones such as eliminating vacant positions.

He also said that in November the government must address the issue of magistrates’ pensions, arguing that „these measures are interconnected” and must be implemented gradually and fairly. AGERPRES