President Basescu stated Wednesday on the Henri Coanda Airport, before leaving for the EU-Africa Summit that he would hold talks with the IMF, after his return from Brussels to discuss "the wrong fiscal budgetary policy "of the Government who, after adding the 35 new taxes, did not generate revenues to the state budget.
“With the International Monetary Fund I will hold talks after I return, I had no time to organize such discussions, about what I believe to be wrong, namely the fiscal budgetary policy, because I have never believed in the preposterous option of raising taxes to generate revenue to the budget", the head of state said, Mediafax reports.
According to president Băsescu, it’s been proven that the introduction of the new 35 taxes by the Ponta Government has failed to generate the expected incomes, planned for the state budget.
“Clearly, there is something wrong, and the argument I have – and which I will explain to the IMF and I will ask that we consider this approach together with the Government– which is to adjust the excessively blown out of proportion expenditures, in the current budget, to the income that we can get without the introduction of additional taxes”, Basescu added.
President Traian Basescu attends Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels the EU-Africa budget. The head of state will also participate on April 4 at the European Summit on Roma inclusion.
The head of state stated Tuesday that the budgetary fiscal policy generated by the Ponta Government and endorsed by the IMF for Romania is wrong and needs to be adjusted immediately, adding that he had drawn up a letter addressed to the Parliament whereby he called on them to reject the Law.
‘The fiscal budgetary policy that Premier Ponta is developing with the IMF is wrong. I know this country very well, I know how economy and people react, I know how companies generally react.
I am stating with the responsibility of a president: the fiscal budgetary policy generated by the Ponta Government and accepted by the IMF is wrong and it should be immediately adjusted’, Basescu argued.
He said that the additional fuel excise is an enormous burden for the economy and thus for the citizens and added that the budget revenues resulted failed to meet the expectations for the first three months.
Therefore, the president affirmed that if in January the collections to the state budget registered a surplus of 435 million compared to planning, that is one billion, in February a shortage of one billion was registered, and in March there was 900 million less, that is the second billion missing.
“If we take a look at the first three months alone, the overall amount to cash in by the end of the year from the additional excise on fuel was consumed. We are getting ready to face a major failure in the budgetary execution”, Traian Băsescu stated.
Basescu went on: "I can do nothing more than to give a public alarm signal, I can do nothing, the Government and the Parliament take the responsibility. My request is to consider that".
This has generated a heated controversy between the Prime Minister and President Traian Basescu, the latter refused to promulgate the 2014 budget with the increase in fuel excise and sign the memorandum with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the document that concluded the evaluation conducted late last year by the foreign financing body. Later, after the various options discussed and negotiated, the Prime Minister announced that he would postpone by three months, until 31 March 2014, the increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel, and the president agreed to enact the budget in these circumstances.
President Traian Basescu sent a letter to Prime Minister Victor Ponta on March 25, reiterating the request to give up the announced excise duty on fuel increase, the president noting that the measure would generate too much pressure and unnecessary burden on the economic environment and the consumer.
Tuesday, President Traian Basescu sent a letter on the excise duty to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Valeriu Zgonea.