Vladescu: State arrears are going up, taxes remain unchanged

The state's arrears to companies continued to rise in the first quarter of the year, but Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu gives assurances the VAT will not be increased and says talks with the IMF target the expansion of the tax base and public sector restructuring.
Vladescu admits talks with the IMF are complicated, but says the arrangement sealed with the international institution is not in danger of being suspended.
On Friday he had the first talks at the Ministry with Jeffrey Franks, chief of the IMF mission that reviews the stand-by arrangement with Romania, as well as with representatives of the European Commission and of the World Bank.
"VAT will not be increased," said Vladescu, asked at the end of the meeting whether raising this tax was being discussed or not.
Although arrears of the general budget should have been on a downward trend, they continued to rise this year, reaching 1.6-1.7 billion RON in the first quarter of the year, according to the minister. The Government has not in fact managed to meet any of the quarterly targets agreed with the IMF since the beginning of the arrangement as far as arrears are concerned, and has repeatedly requested waivers.