Government Ordinance on "Greed tax". Different views

Financial specialists have different opinions on recent government ordinance introducing the so-called "greed tax" on bank assets and turnover taxes for the energy and telecom sectors.

Tax consultant Adrian Benţa - Special Guest, on Thursday, in Radio Romania News Studio - said that such a measure is necessary. "In 2006, ROBOR rate was 0.87, this September it was about 3.30, so 400% higher. We did not have 400% inflation. A Romanian citizen takes a loan from a bank in Romania twice the cost that he would get at the same bank in Austria, France or another EU Member State".

On the other hand, former Finance Minister, liberal Gheorghe Ialomiţianu, said that the new taxes would not affect the banks, but the population and the small firms.

Gheorghe Ialomiţianu: "A budgetary problem is being solved, and Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said that there would be additional budget revenues, but he did not blow a word about how they would protect those affected by banks' behavior. So banks will recover these new taxes through interest or pricing, unless they find a way to bypass the law, and those who will indeed be affected will be Romanian citizens and Romanian companies".

Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund for Romania and Bulgaria, Alejandro Hajdenberg, said that the laws recently adopted by Parliament, which modify the financial system, will lead to a decrease of loans granted to the real economy and will negatively affect the financial stability, RADOR informs.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei