ROMANIA'S ANTI-OBESITY TAXINGS

ROMANIA announced Tuesday plans to levy a tax on sugary drinks to combat obesity, following the lead of other European countries such as France.

''This tax is aimed at discouraging consumption [of sugary drinks] and increasing public revenues, which could be spent on health and education,'' the finance ministry said in a statement/document made public Tuesday.

''The obesity epidemic in the European Union is an enormous burden on health systems,'' the document said.

The new levy should raise 66 million euros [$74 million] over the rest of 2019, and will come as a part of a broader budget review which will also see tax raises on tobacco and budget cuts in certain areas of public spending. [Agencies]