Romania's finance minister assures the VAT will not increase

The Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu said after discussing with the representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Romania the value added tax (VAT) will not be hiked.

He also mentioned the projection on the gross domestic product (GDP) advance for the end of the year still stands at 0.8 percent, NewsIn states.IMF expects Romania to record the best economic performance in Europe next year, with a 5.1 percent advance of the GDP, although it revised estimates on this year's economic increase from 1.3 to 0.8 percent.

The Fund also raised estimates on inflation for 2010, from 3.6 to 4 percent, but the average advance of consumer prices could temper at 3.1 percent in 2011.As to the current account deficit, IMF anticipates a 5.5 percent level for Romania in 2010 and 2011, slightly below the 5.6 percent level estimated in the previous report from October 2009.The new estimates are tackled by the local authorities with the IMF mission which is present in Romania from April 27 to May 7.