Radio România Internațional

Tag: GDP

May 16, 2022 UPDATE

NATO — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis hails Swedens decision to apply for NATO membership, following the announcement made on Monday by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. In a Twitter message, president Iohannis states that Romania fully supports a rapid process of Swedens accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. He adds that, once they join the Alliance, Sweden and Finland will make NATO stronger than ever before. The two countries in northern Europe, located near Russia, have decided to go out of neutrality and demand to be admitted into NATO after Russia attacked and invaded Ukraine almost three months ago. NATO currently has 30 member states, 21 of which are part of the EU. The EU member states that have not joined the North Atlantic Alliance are Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta and Sweden.

Forecast — Romanias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 2.6% this year and by 3.6% in 2023, according to the European Commissions spring economic forecasts. This is a smaller increase than expected in the previous assessments, in February. The situation is valid for the whole of the European Union and is mainly due to the disruptions caused by the war waged by Russia in Ukraine. European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni has announced that the European average inflation rate will be 6.8% this year. He also said that in April European inflation averaged 7.5%, the highest value ever recorded in the monetary union. According to the Commission, inflation in Romania will reach 8.9% this year, double the percentage reported in 2021. Inflation is expected to fall to 5.1% next year, but the Commission warns that there are growing economic risks as the war in Ukraine is prolonged.

Visit — A delegation of the Romanian Interior Ministry led by minister Lucian Bode pays an official visit to the US between May 16-18, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Romania-US Strategic Partnership. The Romanian official is to have meetings at the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Congress. The discussions with the US officials focus on institutional efforts in line with the State Departments recommendations made in the Trafficking in Persons Report (TiP Report), Romania having the necessary tools for an adequate response to the challenges posed by this type of crime, namely structures, legislation, strategies and action plans, informs the Interior Ministry. The meetings are an opportunity to reconfirm the very good cooperation between the Romanian authorities and the US law enforcement agencies in the field of combating organized crime, with a focus on combating illegal migration and cybercrime, as well as intensifying the exchange of information. During the talks with members of the US Congress, Lucian Bode will discuss the challenges of the current regional context, both in terms of managing the humanitarian crisis generated by Russias aggression against Ukraine and in terms of security.

Tennis — Polands Iga Swiatek leads the world ranking of professional tennis players (WTA), published on Monday. Next in the ranking are the Czech Barbora Krejcikova and the Spanish Paula Badosa. The Romanian Simona Halep returned to the Top 20, climbing two positions compared to last week, from 21 to 19 position. Romania has six players in the top 100, the other five being Sorana Cîrstea – 27, Gabriela Ruse – 52, Irina Begu – 62, Jaqueline Cristian – 69, Ana Bogdan – 91. In the doubles ranking, Romania has five representatives in the first hundred: Monica Niculescu – 40, Raluca Olaru – 47, Irina Begu – 57, Irina Bara – 59, Gabriela Ruse – 87.

Football — CFR Cluj (northwest) won its fifth consecutive title as Romania’s football champions, after defeating the Universitatea Craiova (south), score 2-1, at home, in a match from the 9th stage, the penultimate of the First League play-offs. The vice-champion is FCSB, from Bucharest. On Thursday, Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe (center) and FC Voluntari (south, a satellite city of Bucharest) will play the final of the Romanian Football Cup. At the end of the domestic season, the Romanian national football team will have their first match in a new edition of the League of Nations, at the beginning of June, when it will meet the national teams of Montenegro, Bosnia and Finland. (LS)

16 May 2022
Economic growth estimates for 2022 go down

The National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis in
Bucharest has revised down its economic growth forecast for this year to only
4.3%, 0.3% down as compared to its previous estimate. The forecast is mainly
based on the growing inflation rate, presently at 8% and expected to hit two-digit
figures shortly, but also takes into account the fifth wave of the Coronavirus
pandemic and the energy crisis.

Authors of the aforementioned forecast have explained that all the estimates
have been done without taking into account a potential conflict caused by the
geopolitical tensions at the border with Ukraine.

The 4.3% growth has been done in keeping with the higher
energy prices, which may hamper activity especially in the chemical and steel
industry, known to be major energy consumers.

At the same time, dysfunctional supply chains, which
contribute to price hikes on the market, are believed to continue. Even if such
dysfunctionalities are diminished, they will continue to affect the car and
electric equipment manufacture.

Services are expected to register a low increase, especially
in the household sector, whereas constructions are to see a more significant
development than estimated in autumn. Growth in this sector is expected to become
visible against the same period last year, when activity slowed down but also
because of an envisaged impetus given by the incoming European funds.

The Commission has also forecast lower growth in private
consumption and investment against the previous estimates. Research has also been
made on the impact of the energy price hike upon the inflation rate, which translates
into higher consumer prices.

This increase is to be felt less in February thanks to the
new regulations aimed at capping these prices, but is to gain momentum in
April.

Slight
increases are also expected in July and at the beginning of the cold season.
Estimates point to an inflation rate of 9.5% at the end of the year within the annual
average of 9.9%. The estimates don’t take into account other protection measures
for the population though. Suchlike measures are to be quantified in the commission’s
further forecasts.

According
to data released on Tuesday by the National Institute for Statistics, Romania saw
a 5.6% economic growth last year whereas its GDP dropped 0.5% in the last
quarter of 2021 as compared to the previous quarter, but rose 2.2% against the
same period of 2020.

(bill)

17 February 2022
December 22, 2021

COMMEMORATION Events related to the commemoration of the
heroes of the 1989 anti-communist revolution in Romania are continuing in
Bucharest today. 32 years ago Bucharest became the center of the national
uprising, which ended up with the ousting of the country’s dictator Nicolae
Ceausescu and the demise of his communist regime. Romanian president Klaus
Iohannis has conveyed a message on the day marking the Victory of the Romanian
Revolution and Freedom. ‘December 1989 paved the way of our country towards democracy,
allowed its NATO and EU accession, the conclusion of the Strategic Partnership
with the United States and Romania’s becoming a regional security provider.
None of these would have been possible without the anti-communist revolution,’ says
Klaus Iohannis the president of Romania who described as shameful the fact that
in 32 years no one paid for the terrible massacre that preceded the collapse of
the communist regime. According to him, the country’s legal system must not
take a break until the guilty ones are brought to justice.

LAWS Parliament’s specialised committees are today
expected to give the greenlight for the drafts of the state budget and the
national insurance. The PSD-PNL-UDMR majority wants to submit the two drafts to
Parliament tomorrow so that they may get the final voting by Christmas. The
budget of the ministries and central institutions have so far passed the
specialised committees without amendments and all those proposed by the
opposition have been rejected. The budget is based on an estimated growth rate
of 4.6%, a GDP of 260 billion euros and an annual inflation rate of 6.5%.

FORM Over 160
thousand people have filled in passenger locator forms since the application
was launched, most of them on Bucharest’s International Airport Henry Coanda.
Starting December 20th all travellers arriving in Romania must fill in the
digital locator form, also known as plf, a document adopted by 18 other EU countries.
In another development the latest data released by authorities in Romania,
shows another 851 Covid infections and 62 related fatalities. 7.7 million
Romanians have been fully vaccinated in Romania so far.

PROTEST Romanian police have detained two people and fined
another 200, organisers and participants in the Wednesday’s protest staged by
supporters of AUR, an ultranationalist political party with seats in
Parliament, which has an anti-vaccine agenda. Protesters on Wednesday forced
their way into the Parliament’s building courtyard in an attempt to prevent the
authorities from introducing the green certificate in workplaces. Investigation
is under way in an attempt to find the other violent protesters and a parallel
line of investigation is trying to find out why the riot police were unable to
contain the protesters.

(bill)

22 December 2021
December 21, 2021 UPDATE

TALKS Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca met NATO’s Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Tuesday. Ciuca gave assurances that
Romania’s commitment to earmarking 2% of its GDP to defence would continue.
Bucharest will also get actively and significantly involved in the debates over
NATO’s strategic concept and its future missions. The present Russian military
buildup is significant, unprovoked and unjustified and we cannot understand how
NATO’s and Ukraine’s actions can be considered provocations, the Romanian
official went on to say. He reiterated Romania’s support for Ukraine’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized
borders. Also in Brussels on Tuesday, Ciuca met the European Commission
president Ursula von der Leyen with whom he discussed ways of handling the
pandemic. The Romanian Prime Minister presented the efforts of economic
recovery included in the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience, highlighting
the concern for ensuring fiscal-budgetary stability. Ciuca also reiterated the appeal
that a quicker decision be made over Romania’s joining the border-free zone,
Schengen.

PROTEST The protesters who forced their way into the Parliament’s
building courtyard in Bucharest on Tuesday resorted to cars that had unlimited
access to the institution, says a communiqué issued by the Interior Ministry.
About two thousand people, supporters of the ultranationalist political party
AUR protested in front of Parliament on Tuesday the authorities’ intention to prevent
access to the workplace without the green certificate. The unauthorized protest
was promoted on AUR social networks and the authorities are presently trying to
identify and sanction the protesters. Part of them became violent and attempted
to storm the premises. According to the Interior Ministry sources, the police
made an appeal to calm and the observation of legal rules without resorting to
violence. About 100 protesters later gathered in front of the government.
Romania has the second lowest vaccination rate in the EU, almost 40% of the
total population, data released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention
and Control shows.

COMMEMORATION The
heroes of the anti-communist uprising of December 1989 were commemorated in
Bucharest on Tuesday. Religious services and military ceremonies were held at
the Revolution Heroes Cemetery and at the dedicated monuments downtown. Similar
events are scheduled on Wednesday at the Romanian Revolution Heroes Monument,
at the Radio Hall and the Romanian Television Corporation. Originating in Timișoara
(west), on 16th December, the uprising spread across the country,
culminating with dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu fleeing the capital city on 22nd
December amid the protests of hundreds of thousands of Romanians. Captured by
the Army, Ceauşescu and his wife Elena were subject to a summary trial and
executed in the southern town of Târgovişte. Romania was the only country behind the
Iron Curtain where the change of regime was accompanied by bloodshed. Over 1,000
people were killed and some 3,000 wounded.

BUDGET The draft 2022 state budget and social security budget laws will
be discussed and voted on in Parliament on Thursday. The budgets of the main
public institutions were being discussed in Parliament’s specialised committees
on Tuesday. The government passed the bills on Monday and promised they are
based on predictability and stability. The budget is based on an estimated
economic growth rate of 4.6% and a GDP of some 260 billion euro, a predicted
inflation rate of 6.5% and gross average salaries of 1,200 euros per month,
with the budget deficit expected to stay within the limits agreed on with the
European Commission under the excessive deficit procedure, namely 5.84% of GDP.
The public pension fund will receive 7.32% of GDP. The Liberal
president Florin Cîţu criticised the fact that only 6.7% of GDP was earmarked
for investments, instead of 7% as agreed within the ruling coalition. The
Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu argued however that the budget
execution is more important than the exact breakdown of expenditure. The leader
of USR party in opposition, Dacian Cioloş, says the draft budget relies on
over-estimated revenues and said although public education is a priority for
President Iohannis, not enough funding has been earmarked for the sector.

(bill)

21 December 2021
Economic forecast for Romania

The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has substantially improved its estimate
on Romania’s economic performance for this year, and in a recent report it expects
a 7.2% growth rate as opposed to the 6% estimated in June.

Further on, in 2022, the
European funds earmarked under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are expected to
lead to an increase in investments and improvement of exports, which jointly
with the predicted fiscal consolidation and the slow-down in private
consumption may translate into a GDP growth by over 4%.

However, EBRD cautions
that these forecasts are rather tentative. The main risk, as far as Romania is
concerned, is the pandemic, given that the country has the second-lowest
vaccination rate in the EU.

Other risk factors are
the high prices for natural gas and oil, because Romania, just like other
countries, is forced to offset the high electricity expenses for low-income
households. Other alarm signs are related to possible disruptions in supply
chains, and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to the
international financial institution, 3 south-eastern EU member states-Greece,
Romania and Bulgaria-are currently seeing a significant economic recovery,
after a rather difficult year 2020. In Romania’s case, domestic demand is the
main engine for growth.

On the other hand, the high prices for raw
materials may undermine the post-pandemic recovery of European economies, insofar
as they strongly affect the trade balance of energy-importing countries like
Romania.

According to the report,
the high energy prices may be a test of the public’s support for a greener
future. While global support was strong and growing in the past few years, in
some economies, including Egypt, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Poland and Romania the
support rate is lower than in the late 1990s.

According to EBRD,
economies in the region will see an average growth rate of 5.5% in 2021, which
accounts for a 1.3% upgrade since the bank’s June forecasts. In 2022, as
economies recover, the rate will slow down to an average 3.8%. These forecasts
come with a high uncertainty element, given the risks entailed by the Covid-19
pandemic, by a possible worsening of international circumstances and a more
modest growth rate among the main trade partners.

The EBRD was set up in
1991 to invest in former communist states and assist them in the transition to a
free market economy. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, EBRD became
a major investor in Romania, where it focuses on funding infrastructure, improving
productivity and consolidating the financial sector. So far the institution has
invested nearly 9 billion euros in the Romanian economy, three-quarters of
which went into the private sector. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

5 November 2021
Economic forecast for Romania

The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has substantially improved its estimate
on Romania’s economic performance for this year, and in a recent report it expects
a 7.2% growth rate as opposed to the 6% estimated in June.

Further on, in 2022, the
European funds earmarked under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are expected to
lead to an increase in investments and improvement of exports, which jointly
with the predicted fiscal consolidation and the slow-down in private
consumption may translate into a GDP growth by over 4%.

However, EBRD cautions
that these forecasts are rather tentative. The main risk, as far as Romania is
concerned, is the pandemic, given that the country has the second-lowest
vaccination rate in the EU.

Other risk factors are
the high prices for natural gas and oil, because Romania, just like other
countries, is forced to offset the high electricity expenses for low-income
households. Other alarm signs are related to possible disruptions in supply
chains, and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to the
international financial institution, 3 south-eastern EU member states-Greece,
Romania and Bulgaria-are currently seeing a significant economic recovery,
after a rather difficult year 2020. In Romania’s case, domestic demand is the
main engine for growth.

On the other hand, the high prices for raw
materials may undermine the post-pandemic recovery of European economies, insofar
as they strongly affect the trade balance of energy-importing countries like
Romania.

According to the report,
the high energy prices may be a test of the public’s support for a greener
future. While global support was strong and growing in the past few years, in
some economies, including Egypt, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Poland and Romania the
support rate is lower than in the late 1990s.

According to EBRD,
economies in the region will see an average growth rate of 5.5% in 2021, which
accounts for a 1.3% upgrade since the bank’s June forecasts. In 2022, as
economies recover, the rate will slow down to an average 3.8%. These forecasts
come with a high uncertainty element, given the risks entailed by the Covid-19
pandemic, by a possible worsening of international circumstances and a more
modest growth rate among the main trade partners.

The EBRD was set up in
1991 to invest in former communist states and assist them in the transition to a
free market economy. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, EBRD became
a major investor in Romania, where it focuses on funding infrastructure, improving
productivity and consolidating the financial sector. So far the institution has
invested nearly 9 billion euros in the Romanian economy, three-quarters of
which went into the private sector. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

5 November 2021
Economic forecast for Romania

The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has substantially improved its estimate
on Romania’s economic performance for this year, and in a recent report it expects
a 7.2% growth rate as opposed to the 6% estimated in June.

Further on, in 2022, the
European funds earmarked under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are expected to
lead to an increase in investments and improvement of exports, which jointly
with the predicted fiscal consolidation and the slow-down in private
consumption may translate into a GDP growth by over 4%.

However, EBRD cautions
that these forecasts are rather tentative. The main risk, as far as Romania is
concerned, is the pandemic, given that the country has the second-lowest
vaccination rate in the EU.

Other risk factors are
the high prices for natural gas and oil, because Romania, just like other
countries, is forced to offset the high electricity expenses for low-income
households. Other alarm signs are related to possible disruptions in supply
chains, and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to the
international financial institution, 3 south-eastern EU member states-Greece,
Romania and Bulgaria-are currently seeing a significant economic recovery,
after a rather difficult year 2020. In Romania’s case, domestic demand is the
main engine for growth.

On the other hand, the high prices for raw
materials may undermine the post-pandemic recovery of European economies, insofar
as they strongly affect the trade balance of energy-importing countries like
Romania.

According to the report,
the high energy prices may be a test of the public’s support for a greener
future. While global support was strong and growing in the past few years, in
some economies, including Egypt, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Poland and Romania the
support rate is lower than in the late 1990s.

According to EBRD,
economies in the region will see an average growth rate of 5.5% in 2021, which
accounts for a 1.3% upgrade since the bank’s June forecasts. In 2022, as
economies recover, the rate will slow down to an average 3.8%. These forecasts
come with a high uncertainty element, given the risks entailed by the Covid-19
pandemic, by a possible worsening of international circumstances and a more
modest growth rate among the main trade partners.

The EBRD was set up in
1991 to invest in former communist states and assist them in the transition to a
free market economy. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, EBRD became
a major investor in Romania, where it focuses on funding infrastructure, improving
productivity and consolidating the financial sector. So far the institution has
invested nearly 9 billion euros in the Romanian economy, three-quarters of
which went into the private sector. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

5 November 2021
September 8, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 2,079 new Covid infections were reported in Romania in the past
24 hours out of over 40 thousand tests, the Strategic Communication Group
announced on Wednesday. 28 people have died from Covid-related issues while 470
patients, including 8 children, are presently in ICUs. According to the
National Institute of Public Health, over 80% of the Covid-19 infections
reported last week were among unvaccinated people. 93% of the deceased were
also among the unvaccinated and 5% among those who got only the first jab. A
third dose is to become available in Romania in October after the authorities
here will have got recommendation from the European Medicines Agency, Valeriu
Gheorghita, the army physician in charge of Romania’s vaccine rollout, has
said. The vaccine will be first made available to the vulnerable categories.
31% of Romania’s population has been fully vaccinated while 49.4% of the
Bucharest residents have been immunized so far.

MEETING
The works of the Annual Meeting of the Romanian Diplomacy continue in Bucharest
in hybrid format. The session on Wednesday was dedicated to current security
challenges, and was also attended by Helga Schmid, OSCE Secretary-General who
said that she witnessed the devastating impact the conflict had upon people in
eastern Ukraine. The OSCE official added that the organization facilitates the
political dialogue for the peaceful settling of the crisis. During the talks
Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu had with his Greek counterpart Nikos
Dendias, the latter said that Romania can count on Greece’s full support in its
efforts to join Schengen and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development.

RATING
The financial rating agency Fitch Ratings warns that the dissolution of the
Romanian government coalition might disrupt fiscal consolidation efforts. These
are critical for changing the ‘negative’ outlook that is currently associated
with Romania’s ‘BBB minus’ rating. Fitch has repeatedly stated that the
evolution of public finances is the main factor influencing Romania’s rating.
The agency reports that the tensions between USR-PLUS, number two in the
coalition, an alliance whose ministers resigned from the government, and the
liberal prime minister Florin Citu, leave the executive without a parliamentary
majority. This might further delay the European Commission’s approval of the
National Recovery and Resilience Plan – NRRP, which the Romanian government
will be waiting for until the end of September, Fitch said. The rating agency
also points out that political turmoil is a danger to the fiscal outlook. The
executive has planned ambitious reforms on revenues and expenditures to reduce
the deficit below 3% of GDP in 2024 from 9.3% in 2020.

(bill)

8 September 2021
August 17, 2021 UPDATE

Covid-19. Over 1.9 million EU Digital Covid Certificates were issued in Romania until August 17, Andrei Baciu, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health, announced on Tuesday. He said that most of these certificates – almost 96% – are proof of vaccination against COVID-19. The issuance of the European digital certificates started in Romania on July 1. Also on Tuesday, the coordinator of the National Vaccination Campaign against COVID-19, doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă, presented the results of the first study on vaccine effectiveness in Romania, carried out during the third wave of infections in the spring. According to the study, people vaccinated against COVID-19 are faced with a 14 times lower risk of death than the unvaccinated, 12 times lower risk of hospitalization and hospitalization in ICUs and a 10 times lower risk of infection. Doctor Valeriu Gheorghiţă stressed again the importance of vaccination, especially in the context of the negative evolution of the pandemic lately. A new record high for this summer was reached on Tuesday: 544 new cases of COVID-19 were reported out of nearly 39,000 tests performed in 24 hours. Six related deaths were also recorded. In hospitals, the number of coronavirus patients has exceeded 1,000, of which 126 are in intensive care. On the other hand, interest in vaccination remains low, despite repeated calls from authorities to boost the vaccination campaign. Just over 5 million Romanians have been fully vaccinated.

Afghanistan. The EUs priority is the safe evacuation of European citizens in Afghanistan and Afghan citizens who have worked with us for more than 20 years if they want to leave the country, the EU Security Chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday, at the end of a video conference with the Unions foreign ministers. According to Borell, Western intervention has failed to build an Afghan state, the Taliban have “won the war” and so the EU will have to engage in dialogue as soon as possible to avoid a humanitarian and migration catastrophe in Afghanistan. Also on Tuesday, the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg criticized the failure of the Afghan authorities to stand up to the Taliban and prevent them from seizing power in Kabul. Stoltenberg told a news conference that international terrorism is once again a threat as the Taliban return to power in Afghanistan and “NATO needs to stay vigilant, to stay at the forefront of the fight” against it. The speed of the collapse of the Afghan army in the face of the Taliban advance was a surprise and there are lessons that NATO can learn from it, but the main priority today is to get vulnerable people out of the country, Jens Stoltenberg also said. On Monday, US President Joe Biden stressed that the responsibility for the current situation lies with the Afghan political leaders, who fled the country, as well as the security forces who refused to fight. The US President defended his decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan. The situation in Kabul was relatively calm after the Taliban took over the city, but chaotic scenes were reported at the airport, with thousands of civilians trying to find a place on the planes that were taking off. The airports activity was suspended for several hours, but flights were resumed during the night.

Repatriation. Bucharest – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis convened, on August 25, the Supreme Council of National Defense, to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan and its implications for Romania, the Presidential Administration announced on Tuesday. On Monday, the head of state ordered the emergency involvement of the Romanian Air Force for the evacuation of Romanian citizens from Afghanistan. Prime Minister Florin Cîţu informed that 27 Romanian citizens currently at the international airport in Kabul are to be evacuated with the Romanian Air Force aircraft sent to Afghanistan on Tuesday and, at the same time, steps are being taken to recover other Romanian citizens from a former US military base. Earlier, the Ministry of Defense in Bucharest had announced that a team of soldiers from the Special Operations Forces was on board the aircraft for protection. The mission is being carried out at the request of the Foreign Ministry, as a result of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. Also, a C-27 J Spartan plane is ready to take off to repatriate Romanian citizens who have already been evacuated from Afghanistan by aircraft of other NATO member countries. The MFA in Bucharest informed on Tuesday that 16 other Romanian citizens managed to leave Kabul during the night of August 16/17. The Foreign Ministry strongly recommends that Romanians in Afghanistan urgently contact the Romanian Embassy in Islamabad and inform them of their current location, so that they can be contacted if necessary.

GDP. Romanias gross domestic product increased by 6.5% in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2020, according to data published on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics. In the second quarter of this year, the GDP grew by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter, and compared to the same quarter of 2020 the economy registered a growth of 13%. Also on Tuesday, Eurostat reported that, with 13.6%, Romania is among the European Union countries with the highest annual economic growth in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. According to the president of the Fiscal Council in Bucharest, Daniel Dăianu, however, “one cannot compare, without clarifications, a quarter in which the economy is recovering with a quarter in which the economy was partially closed”. Daianu also said that Romania has a structural budget deficit and big external deficits. The opposition Social Democratic Party says that, compared to the level before the pandemic, the economy grew by only 1.9%, and for 99% of the citizens the living standard deteriorated significantly due to the galloping inflation.

Senate. The Senate in Bucharest was convened, on Tuesday, in an extraordinary session for an information on the adoption by the Government, on August 11, during the parliamentary break, of three emergency ordinances. They concern the transfer of pension rights of EU officials, the equivalence of the position of social inspector and the hiring by contest of the personnel necessary for the implementation of projects financed from external loans contracted or guaranteed by the state. The convening of the Senate for the fifth time in an extraordinary session for emergency ordinances without justification is a defiance against Parliament, the Social Democratic senator Robert Cazanciuc said. According to the opposition representative, extraordinary sessions should be used only in special situations. (MI)

17 August 2021
August 17, 2021

PULLOUT In his first public address after the Taliban’s conquest of
capital Kabul, US president Joe Biden says he stands ‘squarely behind’ his
decision to pull out troops from Afghanistan. Biden has blamed the Taliban takeover
on the Afghan political leaders who fled as well as on the security forces who
refused to fight. Biden’s decision to pull out the US troops from Afghanistan
has attracted criticism from both Republicans and Democrats and his address
comes after a dramatic day at Kabul’s international airport where hundreds of
civilians desperate to leave the country forced their way inside. According to
Reuters, flights were cancelled on Monday, when at least five people were
killed, although it was unclear whether they had been shot or crushed in a
stampede. The Taliban captured Afghanistan’s biggest cities in days rather than
months as the US experts had predicted.

REPATRIATION Romania is going to fly a
plane to Afghanistan as soon as possible to repatriate the 27 Romanian citizens
who are still in that country, the country’s Prime Minister Florin Citu has
announced. 16 Romanian citizens managed to leave the country last night. According
to Citu those to be repatriated aren’t part of the embassy personnel but people
working in the private sector and for the UN. The Romanian official has called
on all the Romanian citizens to leave that country while the Foreign Ministry
in Bucharest firmly recommends that they refer to Romania’s embassy in
Islamabad and provide data about their location so that they may be contacted in
emergency situations.

GDP According to a report made public today by the
National Institute for Statistics (INS), Romania’s Gross Domestic Product rose
by 6.5% in the first half of the year as compared to the same period of 2020.
In the second quarter of 2021, the country’s GDP grew by 1.8% compared to the
same period last year against a 13% economic growth. According to the European
Commission, Romania’s economy is to see a 7.4% growth in 2021 and 4.9% next
year, exceeding the forecasts made in spring. Under the budget readjustment
project published by the Finance Ministry late last week, Romania’s GDP should
stay around 239 billion Euros, out of a real growth of 7% this year.

FOOTBALL Romania’s football champions,
CFR Cluj are today up against Serbian side Red Star Football Club in an away
match counting towards the first round of the Europa League’s play off. The
Romanians failed to qualify for the Champions League’s play-offs after being
defeated by Swiss side Young Boys Bern. If they are eliminated from Europa
League, CFR will be playing in the groups of Europa Conference League.

COVID-19 The Covid-19 infections are on the rise in Romania where authorities
reported over 24 hundred new cases between August 9th and 16th.
280 fresh cases were announced on Monday out of 18,700 tests conducted as well
as five new fatalities. The number of
those admitted to hospitals has also risen to over 940 with 120 of them in
intensive care. On the other hand, people’s interest in getting the vaccine
remains low in this country in spite of the authorities’ repeated appeals. Only
12 thousand people reportedly got the jab on Monday. Almost 5 million Romanians
have been fully vaccinated since the country’s vaccine rollout kicked off in
December last year.

(bill)

17 August 2021
April 27, 2021 UPDATE

Vaccination. Romanias president Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday called again on the population to get vaccinated, stating that vaccination is the only way to end the pandemic. Vaccinating as many Romanians as possible means removing restrictions and returning to normalcy, said the head of state. Klaus Iohannis also announced that on the night of the Resurrection, traffic restrictions will be lifted, for everybody to be able to attend the religious services. In another move, the president of the National Committee for the Coordination of Vaccination Activities, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, has announced that new vaccination centers will be opened in Romania in the coming days. The first drive-through center in Bucharest will be opened on Thursday, where people will be able to get the jab without having to get an appointment first. Moreover, a marathon of COVID vaccination will be organized in the capital between the 7th and the 9th of March. About a thousand vaccination centers are currently active, with almost 1,500 flows, with a capacity of over 120,000 immunized people per day. Valeriu Gheorghita has also stated that over 5 million people will be immunized until June 1 in Romania if the vaccination rate is maintained as it is today. So far, about 3.1 million people have been vaccinated across the country, with one or both doses.

Covid-19Ro. 2,019 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Romania in the last 24 hours, according to the Strategic Communication Group. Another 172 related fatalities have also been reported, and 1,336 patients are currently in intensive care. Nearly 10,000 patients are being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals across Romania. Since the start of the pandemic, over 1 million infections have been confirmed in Romania, 95% of the people who got sick having recovered. The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is slowing down in Romania, Prime Minister Florin Cîţu said, stressing the need to observe health safety regulations – the mandatory wearing of face masks and physical distancing, including during the Orthodox Easter holidays.

Pandemic. Several aircraft carrying emergency medical equipment arrived on Tuesday in India, which is facing severe difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical equipment, mechanical ventilators, oxygen generators, liquefied oxygen tanks as well as equipment required to produce COVID-19 vaccines have been sent to India by the EU, the USA, France, the UK, Germany and other countries. India on Monday reported a world record-high number of over 350 thousand new cases of COVID-19 over the course of 24 hours, and a new record-high death toll of 2,800 people at national level. The WHO says the situation in this country is “beyond heartbreaking” and insists that vaccination is key.

Defense. Romania will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in coordination with the other NATO members, starting May 1, 2021, and all 615 soldiers and over 80 tons of materials and logistics elements will be extracted with national and coalition military aircraft. The announcement was made by the Presidential Administration in a statement at the end of Tuesdays meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense, chaired by President Klaus Iohannis. On the other hand, Romania is interested in resolving the prolonged conflicts around the Black Sea, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched some initiatives in this regard at the level of the European Union. In the context of the concentration of Russian Federation troops at the eastern border of Ukraine, the Romanian authorities remain vigilant and will continue to monitor this unjustified mobilization of forces, the statement reads. On Thursday, the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergey Shoygu announced their withdrawal to the permanent bases, an operation to be completed by May 1st.

GDP. The National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis revised upwards, to 5%, the forecast regarding the growth of the Gross Domestic Product of Romania this year, compared to the previous forecast of 4.3%. For the coming years, the GDP growth is also estimated at around five percent. Earlier, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank improved their estimates on the evolution of the Romanian economy this year. The IMF forecast an economic growth rate of 6% and the World Bank 4.3%. The state budget for 2021 was built by the Bucharest executive based on an economic growth of 4.31%.

Corruption. The National Anticorruption Directorate announced, on Tuesday, the beginning of the criminal investigation against the former Social-Democratic Minister of Health, Florian Bodog, for abuse of office and intellectual property crime. We recall that last week the plenum of the Romanian Senate approved the NADs request in this regard. Florian Bodog is accused by prosecutors that, as a minister, allowed a person employed as a personal adviser to get a salary for a year, without actually going to work and without carrying out the activities stipulated in the employment contract. Moreover, Bodog allegedly signed a number of documents on behalf of the said adviser.

EU-UK. At the debate held on Tuesday, the political groups in the European Parliament stood for the agreement setting out the rules for the future EU-UK relationship. Most MEPs, as well as the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Portuguese presidency of the EU Council said they regretted Britains withdrawal, but called for a vote in favor of the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement. They added that it is the best option to mitigate the worst effects of the withdrawal and to ensure the integrity of the single market. MEPs also stressed that the EP would continue to play an active role in closely monitoring the UKs full compliance. (MI)

27 April 2021
April 24, 2021

VACCINE Roughly 15 hundred people got
the vaccine on Friday in a Vaccination Marathon, which kicked off for three
days in Timisoara, western Romania, with a view to giving an impetus to the
immunization campaign, the local medical authorities have announced. 500
volunteer physicians have got involved in this campaign during which 10
thousand Pfizer doses are to be administered and even more if needed. 90
thousand vaccine doses have been administered in the past 24 hours nationwide.
Almost 3 million people have been vaccinated all over Romania since the vaccine
rollout kicked off in late December and 1.7 million of these have got the
second jab. The number of new Covid-19 cases is on a downward trend and so is
the number of people treated in hospitals, which now are under 11 thousand. 14
hundred are in intensive care.

MEASURES The Committee for Emergency
Situations of the city of Bucharest has extended the containment measures for
the Covid-19 pandemic. The night curfew between 22 and 5 hours is still in
place during the weekdays and between 20 and 5 hours at weekend. On April 8th
the government extended the state of alert on Romania’s territory for 30 more
days, starting April 13th. The night curfew is to be lifted though
during the Orthodox Easter over May 1st and 2nd and
Ramadan over May 8th and 9th.

RATING A decision by the Fitch rating
agency to reconfirm Romania’s position among the low-risk countries in terms of
investment, has been based on its moderate public debt and the positive GDP
development per capita, says the Finance Ministry in Bucharest. Fitch Ratings
has affirmed Romania’s rating at ‘BBB minus’ with negative outlook. According
to the agency, the negative outlook reflects uncertainty regarding the
implementation of policies to address medium-term fiscal imbalances and the
impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Romania’s public finances. The plans of
the present administration include a series of fiscal and macro reforms to
anchor medium-term fiscal sustainability, but a weak track record of fiscal
consolidation and very high budget rigidities constitute key public finance
challenges. Fitch expects Romania’s economy to expand by an average of 5.8% in
2021-22 thanks to the strong investment momentum and a gradual recovery in
exports and private consumption.

TENNIS The world’s
third tennis player, Romanian Simona Halep is up against Arina Sabalenka of
Belarus in the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, a
competition with 570 thousand dollars in prize money. The head-to-head is 3-1
to Halep, who outperformed Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarter finals.
In the other semifinal game, Australian Ashleigh Barty plays Elina Svitolina of
Ukraine. Another Romanian player, Sorana Cirstea is today playing Ukrainian
Marta Kostyuk for a place in the finals of the WTA tournament in Istanbul.

(bill)

24 April 2021
November 13, 2020

State
of alert. The government has decided to extend the state of alert by a further
thirty days as of Saturday. The head of the department for emergency situations
Raed Arafat said the sanitary measures introduced earlier remain in place and
will also apply to the parliamentary elections due on 6th December.
He said the health and foreign ministries will issue a joint decree referring
specifically to the voting stations abroad.
Arafat also said the government was planning to temporarily allow
medical school graduates and residents to practice medicine so that they can
work, under supervision, on wards treating coronavirus patients. More than
324,000 coronavirus infections have been recorded so far in Romania. Almost
9,500 new cases were reported on Friday. 1,149 people are in intensive care.
174 new deaths were recorded, taking the death toll to 8,694.

List.
The National Committee for Emergency Situations has updated the list of
countries with a high epidemiological risk. The amber list countries include
Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Jordan, Italy,
Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal and Hungary.
Arrivals from these countries are requested to isolate for 14 days. Travellers
to Spain from high-risk regions or countries will be obliged to produce a
negative result to a Covid test, beginning on 23rd November. The
Romanian foreign ministry is emphasising that the test must be taken no longer
than 72 hours prior to entering Spanish territory and that the document must be
written in Spanish or English. The ministry also recalls that all persons
travelling to Spain must fill in a form about their state of health before
travelling.

Coronavirus world. More than 53.1
million people have been infected with coronavirus globally and more than 1.3 million
have died. In many European countries, the situation remains critical and
governments are taking additional measures. A nigh-time curfew comes into
effect today in Greece and Portugal has expanded restrictions to more areas.
Slovenia has banned almost all public gatherings, and Hungary is in lockdown
for at least a month. In Italy, three regions in the north are seeing new
restriction beginning today. France has seen a 16% drop in new cases in the last
7 days, but the situation ion is sensitive in hospitals, where the second wave
is expected to peak next week.

Statistics. The GDP dropped by 4.4% in the eurozone and by
4.3% in the European Union in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same
period last year. Spain saw the biggest drop, at 8.7%, while Romania recorded a 6% drop, according to a report by the EU statistical office Eurostat. The
data referring to Romania were supported by the country’s National Institute
for Statistics, which published a report saying the economy shrank by 6% in the
third quarter of the year compared with the same period last year, but it grew
by 5.6% compared with the previous quarter.

Moldova elections.
In the Republic of Moldova, the election campaign for the second round of
presidential elections on Sunday comes to a close today. In the first round of
the election, former pro-European PM Maia Sandu got over 36% of the votes, and
the incumbent pro-Russian Socialist president, Igor Dodon, under 33%. The
candidates favouring the reunification with Romania as well as the pro-European candidates, who left the
presidential race in the first round, made public their unconditional support
for Maia Sandu in the second round. The third-placed candidate, the pro-Russian
populist Renato Usatyi, has urged his voters, some 17% of those who voted in
the first round, to vote for the former
prime minister. On Tuesday, Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis expressed joy
at the news of the vote for the West-leaning candidate and deemed it a vote in
favour of the irreversible democratic evolution of the Republic of Moldova, a
country that has permanently and unequivocally been supported by Romania.

UK visas. EU citizens will be able
to travel to the UK visa-free after 1st January 2021 for a period of
6 months, according to the new immigration system made public by the British
government. EU citizens can travel to
the United Kingdom for several times during that time span, but they are not
allowed to live in the UK, under the multiple entry and extended visa mechanism,
nor are they allowed to work or access public funds. Those willing to work,
live or study in the UK must request a visa. This visa will be granted based on
a system of points, after the applicants submit a visa request, on the website
of the British government. Points are
granted in keeping with a set of requirements that applicants should meet. (CM)

13 November 2020
A Parliament vote on rising pensions in Romania has sparked off political disputes

The local election on Sunday has predictably rattled the political
environment in Romania. The country’s Parliament, numerically dominated by the
left, has endorsed a series of budget adjustments completely different from the
scheme proposed by the Liberal Executive. The Social-Democrats and their
traditional or occasional allies ALDE and UDMR respectively, have imposed a 40%
raise in the pension point against the 12% increase proposed by the government.

The MPs have also voted in favour of raising the teachers’ wages
and for earmarking additional sums to local authorities. Relying on a
Parliament support of only 22%, the Liberal government has shortly announced that
it will use all the mechanisms available to prevent the law from coming into
effect.

The Liberals believe that for the time being the economy cannot
support such a measure, which would throw Romania into payment default.

Here is Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban.

Ludovic Orban: The government we are leading
is going to challenge the law at the Constitutional Court. We are also not
going to accept under any circumstances these ungrounded raises as we cannot
accept that the country’s future is put between brackets by some irresponsible
people who are only making fun of Romania. We are going to use all the
Constitutional and legal leverages to prevent this economic aberration from coming
into effect.

The Social-Democrats, who have always relied on the pensioners’
votes, say there is enough money to implement the aforementioned measures.
Alfred Simonis, the PSD leader in the Chamber of Deputies, has accused the
Liberals and their political patron, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis of
having initially supported the pensions rise. He has also blamed the government
for having used the crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to
waste public money.

Alfred Simonis: Before coming to power,
you, your government and the president of Romania said that you supported and were
going to implement this law. Once in power, you have changed your mind. The
people you are calling socially-assisted are probably going to live a couple of
months, or years more. Think of that when you are going to cut the welfare of
these people. Put an end to the illegal money-making schemes, cut the
unjustified expenses, and you are going to have enough money.

Leaving aside the various maneuvers on the political stage in
Romania, the country’s Central Bank has cautioned that a 40% rise in pensions would
lead to an increase in the budget deficit of 11% of the GDP. Instead of a coordinated correction spanning
several years, we would be forced to a disordered correction, which could take
a heavy economic and social toll, officials with the bank have explained.
Employers’ associations and business people alike believe that unsustainable
budget expenses, out of pure election reasons, can put Romania’s economy at
high risk.

(tr. bill)

23 September 2020
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)

9 September 2020