FinMin Citu: Gov't not to increase taxes or reduce incomes in this crisis period

The Government will not increase taxes and will not change the flat tax and will not reduce the incomes of the population, because no new taxes can be introduced in the current period of economic crisis, Finance Minister Florin Citu told a press conference in Gorj County on Wednesday. "To be very clear: we will not affect the incomes of the citizens, we are not raising taxes, we are not putting in new taxes, we are not doing any of these strategies and we will not take money from the International Monetary Fund. What we have done this year is a first not only for Romania in 30 years - to be able to finance a deficit of 8.6% from the international market. Many countries in this world cannot do this. Look at Latin America, look at those countries in Africa that default today. We know how to finance ourselves and we have shown that we have the confidence of investors," said Florin Citu. The finance minister mentioned that he rejects any discussion about reducing the incomes of the population. "No tax can be introduced in a time of crisis. We are in a time of crisis - any discussion of taxes or income cuts is counterproductive. On the contrary, at this point you need to inject liquidity into the economy, not take liquidity out of it. This year, in times of crisis, revenues increased by 8.1% compared to last year. This is what you need for the economy to grow, you need higher incomes. (...) Those who accuse us of taxes, of increasing the flat tax, have introduced taxes in recent years. We have taken down taxes, we will never put in taxes in times of crisis," added Florin Citu. The finance minister said that he wants to leave a financial reserve for next year's State Budget, so that the future Government can cover unforeseen situations such as the one caused to the current Government by the novel coronavirus crisis. AGERPRES (RO - author: George Coman; editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi; editor: Adina Panaitescu)