Dragoș Anastasiu, the new deputy prime minister appointed by Ilie Bolojan, said in an interview on Digi24 that he wants to bring a working model inspired by the private sector into public administration. According to him, the structure that will coordinate the state reform will be a small but efficient one, and the focus will be on collaboration with business and civil society.
“It will definitely be a mini-structure, but we don’t expect it to be a big ministry or a large structure now. Reforms are made by ministers. It’s just that there are certain issues that intertwine and anyway ministers need to be helped, we need to have the relationship with business, we need to have the relationship with civil society. And probably… of course, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan thought that we need someone who is focused on these things”, explained Dragos Anastasiu.
He emphasized that people are needed to facilitate collaboration and coordinate efforts to make reform work coherently: “We need more people to help things come together.”
Dragoș Anastasiu explained that his vision is based on principles of organization and efficiency in the area of private business: “I think (Ilie Bolojan, editor’s note) wanted very much to introduce the style in business. We usually have clearly set, defined objectives, they are called SMART, they are easy to follow. But you have to be careful, you have to be careful, you have to be careful, you have to penalize where things don’t happen. So we’re trying this private business style in the state reform process.”
Asked about a possible VAT increase, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the subject is still under discussion, but the intention is to keep the standard VAT rate at the current level: “I think it is good to wait for the government plan, there are still discussions on it, but the wish is not to increase the standard VAT rate, that is to say to keep the 19%, to make adjustments on the reduced rates, to keep only two VAT rates and to see how to adjust the excise duties”.
The new Deputy Prime Minister Dragoș Anastasiu also specified the priorities for the coming months: “In the next three months, let’s focus on what all of Romanian society and all of us want: on cutting spending and on state reform, on reprioritization, on rearranging the investment plan, on finalizing the discussions related to the PNRR, because there is a lot of money there and there are still fine-grained discussions. And in October we will draw a first line, we will see if we are on the right track, if we are not on the right track”.