英語翻譯
During the transition period,the composition of incomes was affected by the
following measures:abolishment of the previous confiscated profit transfer tax in
1990 and its replacement with a profit tax,which was reformed in 1991 and again in
August 1994 (currently,the rate is 38 percent); replacement of the inefficient
turnover tax with VAT in July 1993,initially with a single rate of 18 percent,
followed by introduction of a minimum level of 9 percent in 1994 for certain food
items and medicines,and its readjustment in February 1998 by increasing this level
from 9 to 11%,and from 18 to 22%,replaced in 1999 by a unique level of 18%;
replacement of the former wage tax based on the economy-wide gross average wage
with an individual wage tax; broadening of the tax base by substantially reducing the
number of exemptions; delay in enforcement during 1999 of some regulations on the uncheon vouchers and of the tax incentives to strategic investors.Tax reforms,
which have started in 1998,changed the structure of the taxes,the indirect taxes
becoming majoritary.The top priority for the year 2000 will be to enforce the
personal income tax that will encompass all sources of personal income.
On the expenditures’ side,in the first years of transition a few major
decisions were taken to formulate a public expenditure strategy.They included the
increased routing of expenditures through newly-established extra-budgetary funds
and accounts; improved transparency and accountability since 1993,when these
special extra-budgetary funds were incorporated into the annual Budget Law;
establishment of the Treasury Directorate and of a Public-Debt Directorate; control
over expenditures in 1993-95 by freezing or approving some of them depending on
the resources available,save expenditures on wages and salaries,pensions,benefits,
welfare payments; the sharp cut in subsidies and transfers and their transparent
incorporation into the government budget.
Therefore,during 1990-98,the revenues and expenditures as a percentage of
GDP fluctuated within a margin of as much as 32% to 42%.The composition of
expenditures shows the swift pace of self-sustaining public debt through ever-
increasing costs incurred by public debt service,reaching 6.25% share-to-GDP ratio
in the first half of 1999 from 0.2% in 1992.Transparent subsidies granted from the
government budget to state-owned enterprises undergoing restructuring,and with the
abolition of the window for financing the quasi-fiscal deficit through direct credits
and interest-rate subsidies in 1992 to 1996,enabled the policy-makers to assess the
real size of the economic imbalances and to implement several corrective measures.