Radio România Internațional

Tag: 2021 state budget

  • Discontent over the upcoming budget

    Discontent over the upcoming budget

    The state budget for 2021 has been under
    constant debate these days, its adoption having been postponed against for next
    week. The ruling-coalition Government says the budget will observe a 7% deficit
    target, will support economic recovery and will cap unnecessary and excessive
    spending of public money. During the pandemic, the budget was strained by high
    healthcare costs, and building the new budget is difficult. Coalition leaders
    on Monday decided to further cut back on spending. They announced pensions
    won’t be going up as planned in September this year, but starting January 1,
    2022. In turn, employees in the public sector will see their holiday vouchers
    slashed this year. Certain bonuses may also be cut, such as the so-called COVID
    bonus, accounting for 30% of the base salary, awarded to employees in the
    prefect’s offices. Meal allowances awarded to public sector employees could
    also be reduced. Child benefits won’t go up this year, and the authorities are
    planning to reduce subsidized transport for students. Liberal leader Ludovic
    Orban tried to explain this package of measures, which many see as an austerity
    one.


    Increasing the pension point is based on a 100% offset of the decreasing
    purchasing power as a result of inflation, and increasing the purchasing power
    by increasing the pension point by 50% of the increase in the average national
    wage. No holiday vouchers will be issued this year, because last year’s
    vouchers are valid over the course of 2021 as well.


    This announcement added to the
    disgruntlement of the hospitality sector, where companies have been severely
    affected by pandemic-related measures. Losses in this sector run up to €7
    billion, says Daniel Mischie, the president of the Organization of Employers in
    the Hospitality Sector in Romania.


    Don’t tourism units need help too? Don’t
    they need compensations as well? We’re asking why a quarter of our venues stay
    closed today. First of all, they lack the financial resources. Secondly, they
    lack predictability. This industry accounts for 7% of Romania’s active
    workforce. There are 400 thousand people working in various parts of this
    sector. We account for 5% of Romania’s GDP. Over the coming three months, the
    Government must come up with a solution to offset all the restrictions taken
    against this industry. We don’t see this happening. There is no greater urgency
    on the Government’s table right now, other than the 400 thousand people waiting
    for help.


    In turn, students’ organizations have
    called on the Government not to cut back on its transport subsidies.
    Social-Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu has accused the coalition of implementing
    inconsistent policies and allocating funds randomly to serve their political
    clients. (V. Palcu)

  • January 27, 2021

    January 27, 2021

    COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The anti-COVID-19
    vaccination campaign continues in Romania. Over 487 thousand Romanians have
    taken the anti-COVID shot so far, and only 1,200 minor adverse reactions have
    been reported. Last week Romania received only half of the vaccine doses
    scheduled to arrive. Therefore, of the people performing key duties, included
    in the second phase of the campaign, people under 65 years of age without
    chronic illnesses will be reappointed for vaccination with a 10-day delay,
    Valeriu Gheorghiță, the head of the
    National Committee overseeing the campagin has said. The Romanian official
    explained there’s a shortage of some 117 thousand doses, and given that delays
    are likely to continue, the authorities have prepared several scenarios under
    which certain categories of people will receive the vaccine with certain
    delays. The goal for the first phase of the campaign has been met. 90% of the
    people included in this phase have been vaccinated or are scheduled for
    vaccination, Valeriu Gheorghiță added. According to the latest update released
    today by the Group for Strategic Communication, another 3,174 new infections
    with SARS-CoV-2 were reported in the last 24 hours, as well as 77 related
    fatalities. So far 718,612 people got infected with COVID-19 since the start of
    the pandemic and 18,015 have died to the virus. 1,025 patients are currently in
    intensive care.




    COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Companies producing anti-COVID-19 vaccines, which have received
    massive investments from the European Union, must now make good on their
    promises and honor their delivery obligations, European Commission President,
    Ursula von der Leyen, has warned. The statement comes after a string of delays
    announced by the Pfizer-BioNTech group in the delivery of its vaccine, which
    was followed by a similar announcement from the AstraZeneca group. In other
    news, the World Health Organization has approved the use of the anti-COVID-19
    vaccine produced by the American biotechnology company Moderna, which must be administered
    in two doses 28 days apart. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom became the first
    country in Europe to exceed the 100,000 COVID-related death toll, which deepens
    the crisis in this country. At global level, over 100 million infections have
    been confirmed since the start of the outbreak and at least 2.1 million people
    have died, the latest worldometers.info update reveals.




    BUDGET – President Klaus Iohannis
    yesterday evening talked with leaders of the ruling coalition on the 2021 state
    budget, which is due to be submitted to Parliament for debate early next month.
    Deputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor told Radio Romania the draft budget is a
    priority right now, saying the deficit cannot exceed 7.1% of the GDP. The
    Social-Democrats in opposition claim the Government is working on an austerity
    budget. After consulting with representatives of trade unions on Tuesday on
    this matter, the Social-Democratic Party will release its own alternate budget
    later today. In Bucharest, trade unionists with the Publisind trade federation
    staged a protest against the low salaries in the public sector and the
    Government’s plans to freeze salaries over 2021. The federation warns that,
    unless their demands are met, protest actions will continue indefinitely.




    ROMANIA-US RELATIONS – Foreign
    Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu today sent a letter of congratulations to his
    US counterpart, Antony Blinken, who took over his mandate as US Secretary of
    State after being confirmed in office by the US Congress. According to the
    Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Bogdan Aurescu expressed Bucharest’s
    readiness to continue the expansion of the Strategic Partnership with the
    United States, a key pillar of Romania’s foreign affairs and security policy.
    The Romanian Minister said Romania remains a trusted ally and a close partner
    of the United States, expressing confidence that, over the term in office of
    Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the two countries will continue close
    coordination and ensure the security and prosperity of their citizens, as well
    as to promote regional stability, including in the Black Sea region. Moreover,
    Minister Aurescu argued in favor of a strengthened US military presence in
    Romania, underlying the development of a reliable and sustainable deterrence
    capability in the Black Sea region, an area of strategic importance to trans-Atlantic
    security. At the same time, Bogdan Aurescu pointed out one of Romania’s
    priorities is the continuous development of economic cooperation with the
    United States. Also on this occasion, Minister Aurescu extended an invitation
    to Secretary of State Blinken to visit Romania.




    HOLOCAUST – Romania’s President, Klaus
    Iohannis, today conveyed a message marking the International Holocaust
    Remembrance Day. President Iohannis said remembrance doesn’t just bring back
    the pain, but also serves to educate us to steer clear of inherent traps
    generated by oblivion. Europe is currently facing waves of extremism, populism
    and anti-Semitism, the President argues, and over the last 20 years Romania has
    developed a series of policies and instruments to combat such phenomena. In
    this context, the President urged the Government to swiftly adopt the national
    strategy on the prevention and combating of anti-Semitism, xenophobia,
    radicalization and hate speech. A brief ceremony honoring the victims of the
    Holocaust was observed today in Bucharest. Various events are also staged in
    other cities across the country.




    US-RUSSIA RELATIONS – The
    newly instated American President, Joe Biden, had his first telephone
    conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders
    agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension of the New
    Start nuclear arms control treaty by another five years. The Treaty signed by
    the United States and Russia, is due to expire on February 5. Political pundits
    say Biden said he would adopt a harsher tone in his relations with Vladimir
    Putin than his predecessor, Donald Trump, who repeatedly refused to face his
    Russian counterpart. The White House writes Joe Biden also expressed the United
    States’ support for the sovereignty of Ukraine, raising other issues of
    concern, such as Russia’s involvement in various elections, cyber-attacks and
    the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The American President
    underlined he wants to cooperate with President Putin, wherever this is
    possible.




    WEATHER – A code yellow alert against heavy snowfalls is in place until
    tonight for eight counties in the southern half of the country and the capital
    city. Blizzards and strong wind are expected in the mountains. The snowfalls
    have disrupted road traffic, which has been shut down on certain national roads
    due to reduced visibility. Rail traffic has also been affected, over 25 trains
    have already been cancelled. Due to the strong wind all maneuvers in Romanian
    ports on the Black Sea have been suspended. (V. Palcu)

  • January 26, 2021

    January 26, 2021

    COVID-19 – 2,877 new Covid-19
    infections have been reported in Romania in the past 24 hours out of the 28
    thousand tests carried out nation-wide, the Strategic Communication Group
    announced on Tuesday. 97 fatalities have also been reported and roughly 8
    thousand people infected are being treated in hospitals, out of whom 1,002 in
    intensive care units. Over 700 thousand people have been infected on the
    Romanian soil since the outbreak, and 90% of them have been cured. However, the
    number of those infected with the new strain, initially identified in Britain, is
    on the rise and some experts believe the new form is to gain momentum in
    Romania in March. The national immunization campaign is in full swing in
    Romania, which is currently seeing its second stage.


    VACCINES – Romania wants vaccine certificates
    not to affect freedom of travel in the EU, Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister,
    Bogdan Aurescu, said on Tuesday in a ceremony marking the launch of the six-month
    Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Vaccination is
    voluntary, and this should be an important factor, the Romanian official said.
    Minister Aurescu pointed out that, right now, vaccinated people arriving in
    Romania are not subject to quarantine. Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa favors the idea that European citizens
    holding vaccine certificates should travel freely. The idea is supported by
    tourism-dependent countries, as well as Germany.


    RECOMMENDATIONS
    – The European Commission highly recommends member states to apply measures
    aimed at restricting circulation in order to urgently curb the number of
    travel-related infections and thus ease pressure on the healthcare institutions
    dealing with the pandemic. According to the Commission, tests can be done
    concurrently with implementing compulsory quarantine up to two weeks. Travelers
    can also be required to fill in forms on their journeys and contacts. The
    measures proposed by the EU executive are aimed at limiting the COVID-19
    infections and also the virus mutations.


    BUDGET – Leaders of the Social-Democratic Party in opposition
    on Tuesday talked to the leaders of the main trade confederations about its
    alternate state budget, which the Social-Democrats want to present publicly on
    Wednesday. The Social-Democrats claim there are enough financial resources for
    investments and the increase in salaries, pensions, even to accommodate the
    doubling of state allowances for children. The Social-Democrats accuse the
    coalition Government of promoting austerity policies, and have promised they
    would also include the proposals of their social partners in their own
    alternate budget. In turn, Liberal Prime Minister Florin Cîţu said the upcoming
    budget is based on a 7% budget deficit, agreed upon with the European
    Commission, and will focus on investments and healthcare. The Prime Minister
    also said the Government is working on modifying the laws on pensions and the single
    salary.


    PROTESTS – Trade unions on Tuesday continued their
    protests against the Government’s social policies. Since the start of this
    month unionists have been protesting in front of the presidency, the Government
    building and various ministries, demanding a decent minimum wage, fair
    pensions, quality public services, the unblocking of collective negotiations,
    fair taxes and the rightful enactment of laws. Protest actions staged by the
    Cartel Alfa trade confederation, one of the biggest in Romania, are scheduled
    until February 28, and also include memorandums, notifications, petitions or
    talks with MPs. The Government in Bucharest says the demands should be taken
    under advisement in the context of the crisis generated by the COVID-19
    pandemic, also considering the budget must observe a deficit of 7%.


    SURVEY – Six in ten Romanians (59%) believe the Diaspora’s main
    contribution to Romanian economy consists of money sent to families back home,
    while 21% say it is money spent during their visits to Romania, a recent survey
    conducted by a company specializing in online money transfers reveals. According
    to the survey, a Romanian sends home an average of €500 every month,
    considering the income of someone working Great Britain or Spain is
    approximately €2,000. World Bank figures reveal that Romanians sent home some
    $7.2 billion in 2019, accounting for 3% of the country’s GDP. Still, only 20%
    of Romanians believe people who’ve left the country contribute to the
    development of local economy by means of investments upon their return home.
    Moreover, 60% of Romanians believe people who left the country should return. (D.
    Bilt & V. Palcu)

  • January 26, 2021

    January 26, 2021

    COVID-19 – 2,877 new Covid-19
    infections have been reported in Romania in the past 24 hours out of the 28
    thousand tests carried out nation-wide, the Strategic Communication Group
    announced on Tuesday. 97 fatalities have also been reported and roughly 8
    thousand people infected are being treated in hospitals, out of whom 1,002 in
    intensive care units. Over 700 thousand people have been infected on the
    Romanian soil since the outbreak, and 90% of them have been cured. However, the
    number of those infected with the new strain, initially identified in Britain, is
    on the rise and some experts believe the new form is to gain momentum in
    Romania in March. The national immunization campaign is in full swing in
    Romania, which is currently seeing its second stage.


    VACCINES – Romania wants vaccine certificates
    not to affect freedom of travel in the EU, Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister,
    Bogdan Aurescu, said on Tuesday in a ceremony marking the launch of the six-month
    Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Vaccination is
    voluntary, and this should be an important factor, the Romanian official said.
    Minister Aurescu pointed out that, right now, vaccinated people arriving in
    Romania are not subject to quarantine. Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa favors the idea that European citizens
    holding vaccine certificates should travel freely. The idea is supported by
    tourism-dependent countries, as well as Germany.


    RECOMMENDATIONS
    – The European Commission highly recommends member states to apply measures
    aimed at restricting circulation in order to urgently curb the number of
    travel-related infections and thus ease pressure on the healthcare institutions
    dealing with the pandemic. According to the Commission, tests can be done
    concurrently with implementing compulsory quarantine up to two weeks. Travelers
    can also be required to fill in forms on their journeys and contacts. The
    measures proposed by the EU executive are aimed at limiting the COVID-19
    infections and also the virus mutations.


    BUDGET – Leaders of the Social-Democratic Party in opposition
    on Tuesday talked to the leaders of the main trade confederations about its
    alternate state budget, which the Social-Democrats want to present publicly on
    Wednesday. The Social-Democrats claim there are enough financial resources for
    investments and the increase in salaries, pensions, even to accommodate the
    doubling of state allowances for children. The Social-Democrats accuse the
    coalition Government of promoting austerity policies, and have promised they
    would also include the proposals of their social partners in their own
    alternate budget. In turn, Liberal Prime Minister Florin Cîţu said the upcoming
    budget is based on a 7% budget deficit, agreed upon with the European
    Commission, and will focus on investments and healthcare. The Prime Minister
    also said the Government is working on modifying the laws on pensions and the single
    salary.


    PROTESTS – Trade unions on Tuesday continued their
    protests against the Government’s social policies. Since the start of this
    month unionists have been protesting in front of the presidency, the Government
    building and various ministries, demanding a decent minimum wage, fair
    pensions, quality public services, the unblocking of collective negotiations,
    fair taxes and the rightful enactment of laws. Protest actions staged by the
    Cartel Alfa trade confederation, one of the biggest in Romania, are scheduled
    until February 28, and also include memorandums, notifications, petitions or
    talks with MPs. The Government in Bucharest says the demands should be taken
    under advisement in the context of the crisis generated by the COVID-19
    pandemic, also considering the budget must observe a deficit of 7%.


    SURVEY – Six in ten Romanians (59%) believe the Diaspora’s main
    contribution to Romanian economy consists of money sent to families back home,
    while 21% say it is money spent during their visits to Romania, a recent survey
    conducted by a company specializing in online money transfers reveals. According
    to the survey, a Romanian sends home an average of €500 every month,
    considering the income of someone working Great Britain or Spain is
    approximately €2,000. World Bank figures reveal that Romanians sent home some
    $7.2 billion in 2019, accounting for 3% of the country’s GDP. Still, only 20%
    of Romanians believe people who’ve left the country contribute to the
    development of local economy by means of investments upon their return home.
    Moreover, 60% of Romanians believe people who left the country should return. (D.
    Bilt & V. Palcu)

  • January 25, 2021

    January 25, 2021

    COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Restaurants, bars,
    cinemas, theatres and gambling outlets will reopen in Bucharest staring today.
    All these venues will work at reduced capacity and with limited working hours.
    The ease in restrictions follows a drop in the infection rate in the capital
    city, to under 3 per thousand inhabitants, thus taking Bucharest out of the red
    zone. Meanwhile the vaccination campaign continues. Over 860,000 people have
    made appointments so far, of whom over half have already been immunized. The
    sixth delivery of over 92,000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived earlier today in
    airports in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Timişoara. The vaccines will then be
    taken to regional centers for storing and administration. On Monday, the Group for
    Strategic Communication announced another 1,500 new confirmed cases of COVID-19
    and 65 related deaths. 1,000 patients are in intensive care.




    COVID-19 IN THE
    WORLD – There are over 10 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world
    right now and over 2.1 million associated deaths, the latest worldometers.info
    update indicates. Meanwhile, the new coronavirus strains discovered in Great
    Britain and South Africa continue to spread around the world, and vaccination
    campaigns are slowing down after Pfizer reduced its production capacity, thus
    affecting its deliveries to European states. EU leaders assure pharmaceutical
    companies will observe delivery deadlines under the signed agreements.
    Meanwhile authorities in Germany, France, the Netherlands or Belgium are
    introducing harsh restrictions. In turn, Spain is facing a third wave of the
    pandemic. According to our correspondent on the ground, the regions of Madrid
    and Valencia, home to large Romanian communities, are as of today reintroducing
    restrictions due to the large number of COVID cases. Restaurants in Valencia
    are shut down and the Police in Madrid are using drones to check the observance
    of health safety measures. Nearly all regions will be isolated for the next two
    weeks. In the United States, President Joe Biden today will sign a decree
    reintroducing travel restrictions for citizens from the EU, Great Britain and
    Brazil. With this move the new White House leader wants to keep the mutated
    strains of COVID away from the United States.




    ECONOMY – Romania’s budget is
    under a lot of pressure right now, due to the need to observe the 7% deficit
    target agreed upon with the European Commission, Romanian Deputy Prime Minister
    Dan Barna said on Monday. The Romanian official said the Government is working
    on a Reconstruction and Resilience Plan which Romania will advance to the
    European Commission, under which our country is due to receive some €30 billion.
    On the other hand, the state budget for this year is still under discussion,
    and the Government wants to adopt it in the first half of February. The
    Government is also due to pass a law providing for a 3% increase in the minimum
    wage starting January 2021. In another development, Moody’s financial rating
    agency says the Government in Bucharest passed the most restrictive economic
    support package in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of the COVID
    pandemic. Thus Romania has allotted only 4% of its GDP to economic recovery.
    The report also reveals that half of this package accounts for direct measures
    or tax breaks or payment deferrals, while the other half represents Government
    guarantees.




    MEETING – Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Bogdan Aurescu, is today attending a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers
    in Brussels. EU officials, alongside the High Representative for Foreign
    Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, will exchange views on the EU
    strategy for distributing vaccines to third-world countries, developments in
    the case of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, prospects of consolidating
    trans-Atlantic ties and EU-Turkey relations. Minister Bogdan Aurescu will also
    notify his European counterparts regarding progress on setting up the
    Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center in Romania. During an informal breakfast
    meeting, EU Foreign Affairs Ministers will also tackle EU-UK relations in terms of
    foreign policy and security, considering the withdrawal of Great Britain from
    the community bloc on January 1, 2021.




    UNEMPLOYMENT – The
    unemployment rate stood at 3.38% in December 2020, up by 0.06% compared to the
    previous month and by 0.41% compared to December 2019, the National Employment
    Agency reports. The total number of unemployed was close to 300,000, two thirds
    of them reported in the rural area. People without studies and those with basic
    training account for the largest share in the number of unemployed.




    SUMMIT – World leaders are
    today meeting online in the first summit devoted to protecting the planet
    against climate change. The summit focuses on the effects of climate change.
    The previous such summits were devoted to combating the causes of climate
    change, carbon gas emissions in particular. The event is aimed at reducing the
    vulnerability of state in the face of rising sea levels, a surge in extreme
    weather phenomena and food shortages all over the world.




    PORTUGAL – Portugal on Sunday
    elected the moderate Conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as its new president,
    after a ballot held with the strict observance of COVID-related health safety
    measures. According to AFP, the current president, a 72-year-old law professor,
    earned public recognition as a TV sports commentator. Sousa won 60.7% of the
    vote, according to partial results covering nearly all constituencies. In his
    victory speech, President Sousa promised he would make it his priority to
    combat the COVID pandemic. (V. Palcu)