The institution of tax exemptions for the hospitality industry and the provision of meal vouchers were measures aimed at encouraging consumption, but they were inappropriate from economic viewpoint, Minister of Finance Natalia Gavrilița was quoted by IPN as saying in a meeting of the Economic Press Club on August 1, IPN reports.
The minister noted that if the program with the International Monetary Fund hadn’t been resumed, the state would have had problems with the financing of the budget deficit as the EU wouldn’t have provided financial support. “The resumption of the program with the IMF for obtaining EU budget support, which would ensure the stability of the 2019 budget, was the top priority. We asked the Government of Romania to provide a loan and will finance the deficit also with new financing resources,” stated Natalia Gavrilița.
She also said that the fiscal measures taken by the Ministry were negotiated with the IMF. “The reduction in the VAT rate for the hospitality industry was an inappropriate fiscal measure as I do not agree with the paradigm of tax reductions for consumption. The same is true about the meal vouchers as these again encourage consumption. These are a non-taxed salary that can hide an additional salary, a present from the state,” noted Natalia Gavrilița, adding they specified that these exemptions for consumption are not appropriate. “The tax exemptions should be provided where we want to encourage production and export and these exemptions should be correlated with the country and person development views.”
Attending the debate, ex-minister of economy Valeriu Lazăr, former chief negotiator with the IMF, said the Government’s decision to extend the period of validity of the entrepreneur’s patent until 2022 was a political one and this will have a negative impact during the next few years. “The patent system causes the biggest gap in the budget. You create a gap for the next three years,” he stated.
Valeriu Lazăr also said that the stimulation of investments should be the top priority of any fiscal measure. Public funds should be provided there where the impact is greater and the impact is greater on investments in educational infrastructure, investments in people and those aimed at increasing and diversifying products intended for export to the EU.
The ex-minister noted the entrepreneurs leave Moldova owing to the unpredictability of the measures taken by the Government and the lack of a dialogue between the central authorities and the business community.
Natalia Gavrilița stated she daily has meetings with different groups of the business community so as to improve the communication process and in the nearest future will invite proposals for improving the financial-fiscal framework regulatory from all those interested.
