RBL's Negut says meeting with President Dan focused on spending cuts not tax hikes

Representatives of the business community met on Thursday with President of Romania Nicusor Dan to discuss structural measures that can be taken to reduce the budget deficit without resorting to tax increases, said Romanian Business Leaders (RBL) President Sergiu Negut."Romania's priority right now must be to continue economic acceleration. Without economic growth, we can't close the current gap. Without growth, our companies can't expand, jobs cannot be created, and salaries can't rise. If I compare it to a business like ours and we have such a large deficit, it has to be covered somehow, namely through spending cuts, not tax hikes. Romania has the largest VAT gap in the EU, double that of our Bulgarian neighbours. We could learn from them, as there are solutions that can be implemented, especially since the digitisation of the tax agency (ANAF) has already produced some results, giving us access to data we can now process. But these are just a few things. The real problem lies in the many inefficiencies within state-owned companies, the large and bureaucratic administrative structure, and the cost this bureaucracy imposes on businesses," explained Negut after the meeting.He showed the need for speed and prioritisation in implementing short-term measures."The President listened to us carefully, and I believe we had a very constructive dialogue. I think there was a real willingness to understand not just our point of view, but a shared vision of a better and more efficient Romania. The discussion focused mainly on adjustments, not tax increases. (...) The question isn't whether it's possible, it definitely is, it's about how fast and which measures should come first. We mainly discussed structural reforms that can be taken without raising taxes," added the RBL president.Florin Duma, president of IMM Romania, also underlined the need to reduce public spending and opposed raising taxes."Together with Concordia, IMM Romania has supported reducing budget expenditures. We oppose tax hikes. We proposed to the President that any future discussions with political actors must also include the business environment to ensure the talks are constructive and lead to the outcomes we all desire, namely lowering the budget deficit," said Duma.President Nicusor Dan hosted the meeting at the Cotroceni Palace, where he welcomed a delegation of representatives from Romanian business organisations.The meeting was held in the context of the current economic situation, which requires joint efforts to identify constructive solutions for reducing Romania's public deficit.The following business and employer organisations participated in the meeting: Concordia Employers' Confederation, the Foreign Investors Council (FIC), the Romanian Business Leaders Foundation, the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham), the French Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Romania, the German-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Council of Private Small and Medium Enterprises in Romania.President Nicusor Dan initiated these consultations in light of the business community's willingness to offer expertise for the benefit of all stakeholders.During the meeting, the business representatives reiterated their commitment to contributing to Romania's long-term economic stability by identifying efficiency measures that will ensure the sustainability of public finance.