August 6 (SeeNews) - Romania's government plans to introduce a tax on sugary soft drinks, increase the excise duty on tobacco products and reduce public payroll, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.
The three fiscal measures are part of a draft decree published on Tuesday by the finance ministry .
The ministry will receive proposals and opinions regarding the draft decree within 10 calendar days from its publication. The document is open to public consultation.
The tax on sugary soft drinks aims to discourage their consumption and increase public revenues, finance minister Eugen Teodorovici said in a televised statement in Tuesday broadcast by Digi 24.
"In the European Union, 52% of the adult population is currently overweight, and out of this proportion 17% suffer from obesity. The obesity epidemic is a huge burden on health systems, and obesity is currently one of the main factors responsible for morbidity worldwide," the ministry said in a footnote to the draft.
The tax on soft drinks with high sugar content is expected to bring additional revenues of 320 million lei ($76 million/ 68 million euro) to the state budget this year, according to the draft.
The excise duty on cigarettes needs to be increased in order to avoid triggering an infringement action from the European Commission for failure to comply with specific obligations, the draft decree reads. The project envisages the increase of excise duty as of September 1 from 483.74 lei per 1,000 cigarettes to 503.97 lei per 1,000 cigarettes.
According to the document, the government plans to reduce by half the number of state secretaries and deputy state secretaries in some ministries and subordinated institutions in order to optimize activity and streamline workflow.
In February, the finance ministry had to step back on an ample fiscal overhaul enforced through emergency decree in December which levied taxes on banks, energy, oil and telecommunication companies following a strong backlash from the business environment.
The government targets economic growth of 5.5% and end-year budget deficit equivalent to 2.76% of GDP in the 2019 state budget.
(1 euro=4.7311 euro)