President of RO Senate slams senior ruling party's fiscal reforms plans

The head of the Romanian Senate, former prime minister and head of the Liberal Party (PNL) Florin Cîțu, criticised severely the fiscal reforms plans sketched loosely by the Social Democrat (PSD) leader Marcel Ciolacu.

"These brutal interventions in the economy remind me of the communist system. It is not a surprise, PSD derived from PCR [Romanian Communist Party]," the president of the Senate commented, quoted by B1Tv.ro.

According to Cîțu, this "continuous attack on the private sector" creates a climate that discourages investment in Romania.

The harsh statements indicate a state of incompatibility among the two parties, partners in the ruling coalition - but this might not be the case as long as Cîțu's statements are rather ignored by the Liberal leadership.

Cîțu was replaced as head of the Liberal Party for precisely this kind of statement that created tensions within the ruling coalition without adding value.

The Social Democrats' plans for fiscal reforms are rather vague and, in principle, not far from the recommendations outlined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Article IV Consultations.

The PSD leader Ciolacu suggested that the digitalisation of the tax system should be accelerated with the aim of making possible reforms to the taxation regime with a note of progressive taxation. He also argued for the taxation of the windfall earnings derived by companies.

The debate over the fiscal reforms is at its very early beginning, and topics seen as tabu - such as higher taxation of dividends or elimination of the preferential regimes for some sectors (IT included) - were not touched yet.

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