Bolojan about excise taxes, after the price of fuel has skyrocketed: Let's not be economic arsonists

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced on Thursday evening that the Executive is considering measures to “limit”, but not “cancel” the price increases for fuels on the international markets. “Let's not act like economic arsonists”, said the head of the government, when asked about the option of lowering the fuel excise.

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Ilie Bolojan stated, after the extraordinary meeting of the Government in which the budget for 2026 was adopted, that the authorities must be “as realistic and fair as possible” with the people, showing that the war in the Middle East affects several markets, of fuels, but that of urea and ammonia, which led to price increases on international markets.

“There are things that depend on us, where we have to intervene, and things that don't depend on us, where we have to adapt or see what we can do. Where Romania had resources, such as the gas component, we made the right decision and through a mechanism we no longer allowed the increase in gas prices and the citizens of our country will have predictability on this component, especially since next year there will be an additional amount exploited from the Black Sea. regarding crude oil and its derivatives, diesel and gasoline, we import more than two-thirds of the quantity, most of it is from imports. Taking into account the price increases on the international markets – for crude oil 40-50%, for diesel the increases are even higher, for gasoline the increases are generally lower – if we make a comparison with what is happening in our market, we see that the prices at gas stations have increased, it is true, but they have increased in a weighted manner. declared the prime minister.

He emphasized that the Government is analyzing the market. Bolojan admitted that the longer the conflict in the Gulf lasts, the greater the effects will be, as these are not easy to predict.

“In the conditions in which in the coming days we will find that there is a dynamic of these prices that continues to increase, we will analyze what are the measures we can take, which could limit, I emphasize, but not cancel, because we cannot do this, these increases in such a way that they are bearable for the citizens of our country and for our economy”, added Bolojan.

Asked if a decrease in the excise tax will be taken into account, the prime minister answered: “I don't like to speculate, because in such situations it is good to be reserved, not to act like economic arsonists. What we can do will be within the limits of the fiscal space we have, in an honest and fair way, on the one hand, on the other hand, analyzing what other countries have done, we must see where the effects were and what the measures applied to our realities would generate braking effects on price increases, because a decrease in excise duty does not necessarily guarantee a decrease in prices, but can guarantee an increase in a commercial surplus”.