Radio România Internațional

Tag: drop

  • December 7, 2022

    December 7, 2022

    BUDGET
    The finance ministry has made public the draft state budget of Romania for next
    year. The document is based on an estimated GDP growth of 2.8%, an 8% inflation
    rate, a growing number of employees and a declining 2.7% unemployment rate. The
    ministries set to receive less money include the energy, justice and public
    healthcare, whereas the defence, development, transport and education
    ministries will receive substantially higher budget appropriations. The ruling
    coalition made up of the Social Democrats, and Liberals and the Democratic
    Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania intends to endorse the draft budget tomorrow
    and send it to Parliament the next day, for discussion next week.


    SECURITY Romania has constantly worked to
    identify solutions to enhance security at the Black Sea, the Romanian foreign
    minister Bogdan Aurescu said in Ankara on Tuesday, when he had
    a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mervlut Cavusoglu. The two officials
    discussed the best avenues for cooperation, both at bilateral level and within
    the NATO framework. They finalised and agreed on the text of the political
    declaration setting up the Romania – Turkey High Level Strategic Cooperation
    Council, organised as a regular meeting of the two countries’ governments and
    focusing on strategic areas of mutual interest, which will be launched in 2023.
    Another topic approached in the meeting was cooperation in the energy sector,
    recognised by both officials as a priority, particularly in light of the recent
    challenges. An agreement was reached to strengthen joint efforts to ensure the
    security of Romania’s energy supplies by transiting Turkish territory. Also,
    the multidimensional effects of the war in Ukraine have been analysed, with
    special attention paid to the refugee crisis and food security.


    JUSTICE The Romanian justice minister Cătălin Predoiu will
    take part in the meetings of the Justice and Home Affair Council and General
    Affairs Council of the European Union, between December 7th and 14th.
    According to a JHA Council news release, on the sidelines of the two meetings the
    justice minister will also have meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg with
    counterparts from other member countries and EU officials. At the JHA Council
    Mr. Predoiu will present Romania’s position with respect to the EU judicial
    instruments and policies in the judiciary currently on the Council’s agenda. The
    home affairs section of the Council is scheduled to make a decision regarding
    the accession of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia to the Schengen area.

    ECONOMY The GDP of the European Union saw a 0.4% growth and
    that of the Euro-zone a 0.3% increase in the 3rd quarter of this
    year compared to the previous quarter, with the most substantial growth rates
    reported for Ireland, Cyprus, Malta and Romania, according to data released on
    Wednesday by Eurostat. The economic growth rate in Ireland was 2.3%, and in
    Cyprus, Malta and Romania 1.3%. The most substantial decline is reported for Estonia
    (negative 1.8%), Latvia (negative 1.7%) and Slovenia (negative 1.4%). Among EU
    member countries, the most significant annual growth rate is reported for
    Ireland (10.6%), Croatia (5.5%), Cyprus (5.4%), Malta (5.2%), Portugal (4.9%) and
    Romania (4.7%), the only negative rates being reported for Estonia (negative 2.3%)
    and Latvia (negative 0.4%).

    OIL Global oil
    prices dropped to the lowest level this year, in spite of the estimates of some
    international experts that expected the EU and G7 ban on Russian crude and the
    cap on crude prices to trigger market turbulence. In Romania, the lowest petrol
    price is EUR 1.3, and diesel is sold for EUR 1.54. On the other hand,
    neighbouring Hungary is facing a fuel crisis caused, according to AFP, by the
    price cap introduced by Viktor Orbán’s government a year ago. The fuel shortage
    comes in the context of a 30% decrease in imports as foreign companies cut down
    their sales to Hungary as a result of the price cap, the country’s association
    of independent petrol stations said.


    GAUDEAMUS The 29th
    edition of the ‘Gaudeamus’ Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania, kicked off in
    Bucharest today. Until Sunday, 200 participants will be exhibiting releases in
    various formats, addressing all age brackets and fields of interests, as well as music and educational games. 600 events have been announced in addition to
    various related projects. As a novelty, 2 areas have been arranged within the
    Fair, for interactive activities targeting the youngest visitors. Pavilions are
    also available online on gaudeamus.ro. The honorary president of this year’s
    edition is the writer Ana Blandiana.


    FOOTBALL In the FIFA
    World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday, in the round of 16, Portugal smashed Switzerland
    6-1, while Morocco scored a surprising win against Spain 3-0 on penalties. In the
    quarter-finals on Friday, the Netherlands will be up against Argentina, and
    Croatia takes on Brazil, while on Saturday England will be facing defending
    champions France and Morocco will take on Portugal. The semis are scheduled for
    December 13 and 14, and the final on December 18. (AMP)

  • Economic effects of the corona crisis

    Economic effects of the corona crisis

    The pandemic triggered a substantial contraction of the Romanian economy in the first half of the year. According to the National Statistics Institute, in the second quarter the GDP was 12.3% lower than in the previous quarter.



    All economic sectors contributed to this result, with important negative effects coming from the industry, whose output dropped around 14%, from cultural and entertainment activities, from appliance repairs and other services, whose volume fell by nearly 30%.



    Increases have been reported in constructions, information and communications, public administration and defence, social security, education, healthcare and social assistance. The finance minister Florin Cîţu expects the domestic economy to see limited growth in the third quarter and thus to avoid technical recession, i.e. 2 consecutive quarters with decreasing GDP. He adds that in the next quarter, the highest risk is the contribution of agriculture to the GDP, but he also emphasises the positive role of investments.



    Even so, economic analyst Aurelian Dochia believes the GDP drop by the end of the year is rather unlikely to be only 4%, as the government forecasts.



    Aurelian Dochia: “Statistics confirmed that in the first half of the year Romanias economy saw a sizeable contraction, as did many European economies and economies in other parts of the world. It is hard to believe that by the end of the year things will improve to such an extent as to lead to a year-end contraction of under 4%, as the government forecasts, because we have to make up for a 10% drop. This is by no means easy, given that the fears that keep the economy on hold are still considerable, and that the European economy and the economies of Romanias key partners, first of all of Germany, are not likely to bounce back very quickly, in spite of some signs of recovery. So for the entire year, Romanias GDP might drop by a total 5-6%.



    In the same context, an analysis run by the National Statistics Institute shows that over one-third of Romanian households have had difficulties, or even serious difficulties, meeting current costs of living, and if we add those who admitted slight difficulties in covering these costs, we get a total of 77% of the families in Romania. According to the survey, only for one in five households current expenses do not raise any special problems. More than half of households say the incomes required for covering current expenses should be over 600 euro, the survey also indicates.


    (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • When will the number of Covid-19 infections drop?

    When will the number of Covid-19 infections drop?

    For almost 2 weeks now, Romania has been reporting one negative record after another in the battle against the feared coronavirus. The daily number of new cases has been over 1,000, so that the total, in 5 months of healthcare crisis, is nearing 50,000. The number of patients in intensive care units has also gone up, as has the number of deaths.



    The infection rate might only start dropping in 2-3 weeks, and only if citizens observe protection rules, says health minister Nelu Tătaru. According to him, this progressive increase is caused by the thousands of people who tested positive and were released from hospitals before the law on quarantine and isolation came into force.



    Nelu Tătaru: “Beginning July 23, when the law took effect, we resumed this colossal effort of identifying, diagnosing, isolating or quarantining patients. We are currently at the high point of the disease for the nearly 4,000 patients who refused to stay in hospital over a period of 3 weeks.



    The authorities are working to adapt some hospitals in the areas affected by Covid-19, so that they receive coronavirus patients. Also, since the decision was left to local authorities, a growing number of counties have introduced the obligation to wear face masks in crowded outdoor places as well, including markets, fairs, church grounds, bus stations or train platforms. The rule applies to everybody except for children younger than 5. This is the case with Constanța County, on the Black Sea coast, which is swarming with tourists at this time of the year. Here is prefect George Niculescu:



    George Niculescu: “In the seafront areas in all tourist resorts in Constanţa County, which are places that are traditionally crowded during summer, face coverings are compulsory between 6 pm and midnight. The decision was taken following a report submitted by the Public Health Directorate regarding the risks of coronavirus infection and a report from the Constanţa County Police Inspectorate regarding the traffic and people flow data for these hours.



    If the pandemic is to be contained, the central authorities say, strict measures must be in place, and people must observe them or else face the harsh consequences dictated by law.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)