Finance Minister Marcel Bolosh said on Thursday on Antena 3 that the fiscal measures the government is preparing to take will not affect Romanians, while hotel and restaurant owners remain the most pampered because they will still have the 9% VAT, have vouchers for recreation and tax system from micro-enterprises with 3%.

Marcel BolosPhoto: Inquam Photos / George Calin

Marcel Bolos was asked on Thursday on Antena 3 how the government will act with the tax imposed on banks to avoid registering a rate increase, News.ro reports.

“The bank levy is unlikely to increase the cost of bank rates of the population. That would be crazy. Additional budgetary influence that banks have does not create such situations, 336 million lei from additional banks, from 41 banks. The other day I spoke with the president of the bank and he told me, Mr. Minister, you can also give us 3%, because we bear it in solidarity with the difficult situation that Romania is going through,” said the finance minister.

He also stated that apocalyptic scenarios are not favorable and that these fiscal measures will not affect the lives of Romanians.

“I assure them one hundred percent that this will not be the reason for a possible increase in bank rates and they will not be affected by these budgetary and fiscal measures. These apocalyptic scenarios do not bode well for the entire population, as these fiscal measures do not affect basic consumption and the daily life of Romanians. Of course, there is an increase in VAT, but this applies to those goods and activities that are not part of everyday life. We took great care to ensure that people were protected and also that the investment of the business environment was protected because we submitted investments from the famous 1% turnover tax. This is the situation we have now, and we are trying to protect people and the business environment,” Marcel Bolosh also conveyed.

He was also asked what will happen to the owners of hotels and restaurants, because the sales tax for them is increasing.

“Those who have hotels and restaurants are still almost the most pampered because they have 9% value added tax, they still have vouchers for holidays, one billion 800 million lei. They also have a 3% micro-enterprise tax system, so they still have the benefits created by the Romanian government at a time when others are envious of the types of tax benefits they benefit from. We are not doing this for the sake of taking these fiscal measures, but because of these obligations, so as not to jeopardize the development of Romania,” Marcel Bolosh also stated.