Tax increases are no longer necessary, says Prime Minister Bolojan's advisor. “What needs to be done is done, we need to take a break”
Economist Ionuţ Dumitru, honorary adviser to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, said on Saturday that, if we look at the two packages of measures that have been approved, they together bring a budgetary effect of about 3.6% of GDP, showing that at the moment he does not think that additional measures are necessary to be able to adjust the budget deficit in 2026, reports News.ro.
“I think that the measures already implemented, if we look at the two packages that have been approved, together they bring a budgetary effect of about 3.6% of GDP, even 3.7% for a whole year. So, let's say, together for 2026, we have this estimated budgetary impact. They are necessary and probably sufficient to reach the target of 6.6% to 100% of GDP, as we assumed from the European Commission in 2026. I mean, at the moment I don't think that additional measures are necessary to be able to adjust the budget deficit in 2026”, said the adviser to the prime minister, on Antena 3.
Ionuţ Dumitru also stated that the effects are in line with expectations. “As things look at the moment, although it is premature to draw a conclusion after 2-3 months of execution, the effects are in line with expectations. (…) We still do not have the published data from the Ministry of Finance, but probably the effect of the VAT increase is in line with expectations and I believe that the measures taken are having their effects and I believe that we already have a fairly significant adjustment on the budget this year. And also on the expenditure side, if we look already, starting from September and probably this trend continues in October, the social expenditure bill is adjusted. If we look at salaries, they decrease as a total amount, compared to the previous months”, he stated.
“We managed to avoid the economic crisis, but we are walking on rather thin ice”
The advisor to the prime minister emphasized, thus, that no more tax increases are necessary, not even for the following years, because what had to be done has been done and “we have to take a break”.
“Regarding tax increases, what needed to be done has been done and I think we need to take a break, at least. I think that no more tax increases are necessary at the moment, not even for the next years. So, if we look at the measures that have been adopted, I think they are enough”, said Ionuţ Dumitru.
He mentioned that, on the revenue side, we will have to make very big progress in the coming years, “and here there is a lot of pressure on ANAF to improve collection”.
Ionuţ Dumitru was asked if taxes will increase in 2026. “I believe that tax increases are no longer necessary. I could not tell you what will be done. I am telling you that I do not think it is necessary to increase taxes any more. I think, however, that we need to work a lot both on the collection side, but also on the expenditure side”, replied Dumitru.
The economist mentioned that, on the expenditure side, we have a very big problem with the efficiency of spending public money. About the risk of an economic crisis, the councilor said that, “fortunately, so far we have managed to avoid this scenario”.
“If we look at economic growth, we are where we were last year. With all the measures that were implemented, we have an economic growth similar to last year. However, we are walking on quite thin ice, that is, we will have to manage things very carefully, in order to maintain this economic growth and reaccelerate a little, in the coming years. And I think this is possible if we manage to restore a little trust. I think we have to send a message, which is a message realistically, the main adjustments that had to be made have been made, we still need to work a lot on the expenditure side, but also on the collection side. But, from now on, we need to restore the investment sentiment”, emphasized Ionuţ Dumitru.
