Budgetary revenues up 7.5% in July in the wake of VAT hike announcement

The decision to raise VAT to 24% and the rising excises drove budgetary revenues up by 7.5% in July against the same month of last year, to 16bn RON, extending the upward tendency of receipts posted in June.
In the wake of this trend, revenues collected for the general budget after seven months got into positive territory for the first time this year, to 93.3bn RON, 1.2% above the level of the similar period of 2009.
BCR analysts note the 17% increase in VAT revenues in July against July 2009, estimating more positive effects from the VAT increase to 24% are to be expected in the following months.
In July, VAT revenues reached 3.2bn RON, while sums collected to the budget from excises climbed by 36.2%, to 2bn RON. Overall, in the first seven months of this year VAT and excises brought 19.6bn RON and 9.09bn RON, respectively, to the budget.
The Finance Ministry underscores the rising revenues from VAT in June and July, maintaining however that the VAT hike impact will be visible starting August. It remains to be seen whether the ministry will be able to collect the around 1bn-euro extra expected from the VAT increase.