Romanian PM: Postponing excise duty increase only for diesel products by 3 more months, the only option accepted by the IMF

Postponing the introduction of the 7 eurocents excise duty increase for diesel products for another three months is the only option accepted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to the Romanian Prime-Minister Victor Ponta. “It is the only option the IMF supports, it’s the maximum, with the reasoning that we can have no more than a RON 1 billion gap in revenues,” said Ponta, quoted by local news agency Mediafax. He added that this decision to postpone the excise duty on diesel had yet to be taken. However, when asked if the Romanian president will sign the memorandum with the IMF under these conditions, the Prime-Minister said: “I don’t know if he will sign, the President kept the position of not signing anything”. In December 2013, the Romanian President Traian Basescu said he will not pass the budget for 2014 with the excise duty increase on fuel products. Later that month, after a discussion with the President, Ponta said he will postpone by three months the excise duty increase for fuel products until March 31, 2014, and the President said he will pass the budget for this year, under these conditions. On January 23, 2014, during the meeting with representatives of the IMF, Basescu said he will not support the introduction of the excise duty on fuel products. “I don’t block the decision between you and the government, but don’t ask me to sign these negotiations,” said the President, quoted by Mediafax. A mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently in Bucharest for talks on the combined first and second reviews of the new stand-by agreement, which was approved in September last year. During the visit, the IMF mission “will also discuss measures to compensate for the revenue shortfall from postponing the excise duty increase on fuel products by three months, so as to secure the budget’s deficit target of 2.2 percent of GDP,” said the Resident Representative of IMF in Romania and Bulgaria, Guillermo Tolosa. The mission’s visit in Romania ends on February 5, 2014. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: gov.ro)