The growth rate of revenues collected from VAT slowed down bynearly half in December against November, the lowest growth raterecorded after the VAT was raised by five percent.
The amounts collected from VAT were 25% higher in December againstthe similar month of 2009, while in November the rise was44.7%.
The crisis saw Romanians cut their shopping budget for the holidayseason. This was felt in the sales of retail players.Representatives of traditional retail also felt the consumptiondecline.
According to data from the National Statistics Institute, turnoverfrom retail, which does not include car trade, posted an around 7%decline in November against the similar period of 2009. The automarket on the other hand saw nearly 11,000 cars sold in November,12% more than in November of 2009, and nearly 6,800 in December,down 18%. December saw a 0.5% rise to 10,430 cars.
The Finance Ministry last year bet on a 7% increase in budgetrevenues against 2009, in the scenario that provided for the returnto growth of the economy by 1.3% and for an unmodified flat rateand VAT.
It was hard to believe that such an increase in budget revenues waspossible to attain if the main taxes remained as they were, withexpectations not really upbeat about consumer spending and economyrebound.
For 2011 the Government seems to have ventured a rather optimisticbudget, expecting nearly 7% higher budget revenues than thosecollected in 2010, risking to overestimate the ability to raisetaxes.
Analysts have recommended caution, saying a 7% revenue increasewould be possible only if the economy were to return to positiveterritory and post 2% growth, which is by no means certain.
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