Romania is not overtaxed, but it indeed is collecting very little, Chairman of the Fiscal Council Daniel Daianu told a debate on Thursday on a paper dealing with financial stability and macroprudential policy.
According to him, however, there are very large imbalances, with some sectors being much more taxed than others, including categories of taxpayers.
“Our vulnerability is known, it is also mentioned by the National Bank, it is constantly mentioned by the Fiscal Council in our country. We have a structural deficit, a very large government deficit. The structural deficit is over 6.5% of GDP – and there is also a current account that has a large deficit, with external financing almost half. In Romania there is enormous resistance to the correction of this very large deficit because it will affect people’s incomes. It is a prevailing thesis that Romania is overtaxed. Romania is not overtaxed. Romania is collecting, indeed, very little. However, there are very large imbalances, there are sectors that are much more taxed than others, I am also referring to categories of taxpayers,” said Daianu.
He also mentioned financial education, saying that citizens should have better economic and financial knowledge.
“Be it financial stability or financial education, we all demand that citizens know more. Citizens need to have better economic and financial knowledge. It is good to be so. Financial education is primarily addressed to decision-makers, experts from governments, if they exist, experts from parties, if they exist, and lawmakers. In a country that wants to have serious policies, there should be discussions in parliamentary committees, there should be hearings with experts, those from the Central Bank, those from the Fiscal Council should come – experts from the academic community should come and express a point of view. You have seen how the debates happen: in 6 hours, in one day, the debates on a draft budget are over, there are no discussions on financial stability issues.”
The National Bank of Romania (BNR) on Thursday organised a debate on a paper on financial stability and macroprudential policy, authors Florian Neagu, Matei Kubinschi, Alexie Alupoaiei.
It is designed for both financial professionals and for students or readers passionate about economics and finance, being among the first specialised works in Romania that analyses financial stability and that extensively describes macroprudential policy instruments.
