Any exemption granted to not pay in full the additional excise on fuel introduced from 1 April will have to be compensated by other fiscal measures with “high impact” so as to not jeopardize the budget deficit assumed by the Government, said the head of the IMF mission in Romania, Andrea Schaechter.

“The excise on fuel is an important element for achieving deficit and any decision to grant exemptions for carriers with heavy machinery would create a tax gap that should be compensated by measures of high impact, so the budget deficit for this year and the next to be achieved”, said Schaechter.

Government has assumed in the agreement with IMF the task of staying in a budget deficit of 2.2% of GDP this year. Romania has benefited from the confidence of financial markets in the context emerging markets’ volatility at the beginning of the year, and romanian authorities must not jeopardize this trust, the IMF official said.

“Achieving fiscal commitments is particularly important in a global environment where markets granted strong confidence to Romania”, said Schaechter.