Mureșan said the government led by former prime minister Ilie Bolojan had to take difficult measures to put public finances back on track and prevent a repeat of the fiscal slippage recorded in 2024. He argued, echoing president Nicușor Dan’s recent statements, that Romania’s economic situation is now significantly better than it was a year ago, when Bolojan took office and implemented the first major fiscal consolidation measures.
“The situation we have today, after the measures taken by the Bolojan government, is better than the one he found [after the parliamentary elections in December 2024]. Romania’s economy is more solid, and we do not need new tax, excise duty or VAT increases. We must continue to streamline state spending, cut waste, and, as the budgetary situation allows us, discuss fiscal relaxation. In the case of VAT, I said very clearly: the objective must be to return to 19% as soon as we can afford it,” Mureșan told Pro TV.
“I cannot promise that there will be tax cuts overnight, but as soon as possible, we will do so. An indexation of pensions, an indexation of salaries [in the budgetary sector], of course it is desirable as soon as we have [fiscal] space,” he added.
Mureșan’s commitment to continue the fiscal consolidation measures pursued by Bolojan has been one of the main reasons cited by PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu for opposing parliamentary support for his government. Grindeanu has said that PSD will only support a government in which it participates and has rejected a cabinet that would continue Bolojan’s economic policies.
The remarks therefore combine a commitment to fiscal-policy continuity in the short term with the prospect of tax and spending relaxation once budgetary conditions allow it – a position that leaves room for negotiations with PSD, but does not address the party’s demand for a change in economic policy and participation in government.
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