USR MP Cristina Prună, vice-president of the Committee for Industries and Services, supports reducing excise duties and VAT to mitigate the increase in prices at the pump.

In her opinion, steps are needed to mitigate the increase in prices, but the measures that the government is about to take “are not correct”. Capping the commercial mark-up will have a marginal impact, she explained on Facebook on Tuesday.

“Instead of intervening in the area of ​​excise duty and VAT, from which it already earns much more than it estimates, the government is also intervening in the market. Capping the margin will not solve much because there have been no signals that this is the major problem. Prices are increasing internationally, and we depend on imports. So the impact on lowering prices will be marginal and most likely short-lived if external developments continue on current trends. On the other hand, capping the mark-ups may lead to shortages and queues at the pump”, Cristina Prună said, according to Agerpres.

According to her, Romania cannot cap the margin on fuel imports, and small economic agents will be the ones who will suffer, because “it will no longer be profitable” to sell at the pump.

“After taking late measures compared to others, we don’t even learn from what we see in them and take the right measures. The correct solution to mitigate the price increase was simple: the state should reduce its large share of the price at the pump (over 55%), that is, excise duties and VAT, which have been increasing and pushing prices up since before the war in the Middle East. The argument that it would decrease budget revenues no longer holds, because the estimates were made when prices were much lower”, added Prună.

She emphasized that measures should have been taken “in time” to encourage refining in our country.

“We have refineries, but they are not in production and this certainly accelerates the need for imports and thus amplifies the problems on the market. Unfortunately, some people do not want to understand the rules of the economy and the market”, argued the USR parliamentarian.

The government will adopt, on Tuesday, an emergency ordinance declaring a crisis situation on the crude oil and/or petroleum products market and establishing measures to protect the economy and the population during this crisis.

According to a government statement, the decision was made on Monday in the working group to analyze the increase in fuel prices and identify solutions aimed at reducing the impact on the economy and the population, convened by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.

“Following the discussions, it was decided that the Government would adopt an emergency ordinance declaring a crisis situation on the crude oil and/or petroleum products market and establishing measures to protect the economy and the population during this crisis. During the crisis situation, protective measures will be established for a period of 6 months, with the possibility of successive extensions for intervals of no more than 3 months, as long as the circumstances that determined the crisis situation persist. The commercial markup for gasoline, diesel and the raw materials used to obtain them will be limited throughout the entire economic activity chain,” the statement explained.