President-elect Dan: There will be no such thing as increasing 5% and 9% VAT rates

 President-elect Nicusor Dan on Friday stated that increasing the reduced 5% and 9% VAT rates.He mentioned in a press release that the scenarios regarding a possible VAT increase are "absolutely theoretical," because they do not take into account aspects such as the increase in tax evasion and the limitation of consumption.He also reiterated that he is taking steps so that a VAT increase of 19% "is not taken into account.""Any increase in consumption taxes, such as VAT, on the one hand generates evasion, on the other hand generates a limitation of consumption. So, there are never absolute calculations. (...) I think an elimination of the 9% rate for basic foods is out of question. We have 5% for energy and some other things. We have 9% for basic foods and some other categories. And 19% general tax. There is no question of increasing it from 5 to 19 or from 9 to 19. That is something that is out of question," he said.On the other hand, regarding the solutions for reducing the budget deficit, Nicusor Dan stated that he had identified variants, but that he did not want to present them publicly until he had discussed them with the representatives of the parties.Nicusor Dan mentioned that Romania is facing an excessive deficit procedure, which could lead to a cut in European funds. In addition, there is a risk of not attracting part of the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) funds by August 2026."The excessive deficit procedure has some stages, in which, possibly, at a given time, a percentage of the funds will be taken. It is not necessarily the percentage that is important, but the signal that such a decision would give to the market and especially to the financial system and to investors who lend to Romania. On the other hand, on the PNRR, the big risk is that we do not attract, that is, we have a deadline of August 2026 and the big risk is that we have some money that we have and that we do not withdraw by then. That is where the biggest discussion is," said Nicusor Dan.He also specified that if our country reduces the budget deficit, it will benefit from more confidence in the financial markets."If we manage to reduce the deficit from 9 to 7.5, we will already have more confidence and we will have lower interest rates. If in two years we end up having a deficit of 5, interest rates will be even lower," explained Nicusor Dan.