Radio România Internațional

Tag: isarescu

February 7, 2025

GDP Romania has overcome Poland in terms of the GDP per capita against purchasing power says a survey conducted by experts with the Romanian Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. According to the same sources, Romania is also ahead other economies in the region, such as Hungary, Croatia or Greece and the nominal GDP per capita has risen by 11% in the past five years, exceeding 80% of the EU average. We’ll be having more on this after the news

WAGES According to the latest economic forecasts of the European Commission in Romania wages will moderately increase in 2025 and 2026. The European Commission has based its forecasts on the already significant increases in the minimum wages already made by the government in Bucharest, the lower inflation and the labour market relaxation, which is expected to reduce the unemployment rate. European Commission experts are expecting price hikes in energy and food to significantly decrease. The inflation rate is expected to drop down to the Central Bank’s target of 2.5% towards the end of 2026.

THEFT The Dutch police have announced they have received hundreds of hints regarding the theft of the precious Romanian artefacts from the Drents Museum in Assen. Many of these are about the places where the suspects have been seen and their contacts. The police last week apprehended three suspects, two men and a woman who refused to say where the stolen objects are stashed. All the three suspects are still in police custody. Art detective, Arthur Brand says there is 50% risk the suspects have already melted the golden artefacts: an ancient helmet and three bracelets dating back to the old kingdom of Dacia, 25 hundred years ago, which had been loaned out by the National History Museum in Bucharest.

VISIT The head of the US diplomacy, Marco Rubio, will be travelling to Israel and several Arab countries in mid-February, the US Department of State has announced. This would be Rubio’s first trip as a Secretary of State to the region after the US President, Donald Trump’s statement on resettling the Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip under US monitoring. Trump’s resettlement idea has prompted a series of accusations that he is planning ethnic cleansing and has drawn condemnation from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders. Rubio insists that Donald Trump proposed the reconstruction of the aforementioned territory, which at present offers improper dwelling conditions. According to AFP, Rubio will be participating in the Security Conference in Munich and is going on a Middle East tour, which will take him to Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia over February 13 and 18.

IMF Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is meeting an IMF team, whose four days trip to Bucharest ends today. The IMF experts are having talks with Central Bank officials, including governor Isarescu. The IMF delegation hasn’t called for strict financial measures, like tax hikes or other austerity measures, Finance Minister Tanczos Barna says. Barna met the new head of the IMF mission to Romania, Joong Shik Kang on Thursday. At present Romania doesn’t have an IMF funding agreement underway, but the institution is presently monitoring Romania’s economy, under Article Four, which provides for a mandatory monitoring exercise involving all member states. The consultations’ main purpose was financial and economic assessment at national level as well as recommendations concerning monetary, financial and economic policies with a view to achieving economic stability and development.

(bill)

7 February 2025
August 10, 2023 UPDATE

INDICTMENT The General Prosecutor’s Office in Romania on Thursday made
public the indictment prepared by the military prosecutors, under which 16
gendarme officers and non-commissioned officers had been indicted for their
intervention in the anti-government meeting on August 10th 2018 in
Bucharest. The Document shows the forceful intervention of the gendarmes
against the peaceful protesters was illegal and unjustified. At the same time,
the use by the gendarme troops of rubber sticks, pepper sprays, shields and
other non-lethal weapons like stunt grenades and tear gas could be considered inhuman
and degrading treatment. According to the document, there were clashes between
the gendarmes and protesters in which the former were wounded but the situation
on the ground did not justify a forceful intervention against the larger mass
of peaceful protesters, which included women, children and older people. We
recall that the General Prosecutor’s Office has brought to court high-ranking officers
of the Gendarme troops that time for forgery and abusive conduct.

ENERGY Energy prices in Romania will be
capped this winter as it happened last season, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel
Ciolacu said on Thursday. He called on the field ministries to prepare for the
winter to come and make sure they are able to provide energy to the population
at the capped prices, as they are now. During the government session on
Thursday a law was endorsed providing for subsidizing some payments to energy
suppliers so that the system may continue to be functional. Also on Thursday,
the Executive endorsed another law allowing the citizens who obtained driving
licences in other countries to get their Romanian equivalent following a
driving exam without taking driving lessons as it was under the previous
law.

INFLATION The National Bank of Romania expects a slightly higher
inflation towards the end of this year than it anticipated a few months ago.
According to the new forecast presented, on Wednesday, by the governor of the
Central Bank, Mugur Isărescu, towards the end of the year, inflation could
reach 7.5%, up from the initial forecast of 7.1%, to then drop to 4.4% at the
end of next year. According to Mugur Isărescu, economic growth shows
signs of slowing down, as does consumption.

DAY The
Turkish corvette TCG ‘Kinaliada’ will make a stopover in the port of Constanţa,
between August 12-16, to participate in the Romanian Navy Day, alongside
Romanian military and civilian ships, informed the General Staff of the Naval
Forces. On Tuesday, August 15, the Turkish corvette will join Romanian military
ships at sea, participating in demonstration exercise ‘Romanian Naval Forces
23’. It will consist of elements of reconnaissance-diversion, repelling the
attack of enemy aviation, searching for and attacking an enemy submarine,
repelling a maritime landing, combating illegal migration at sea. The Guard of
Honor, set up on the seafront in front of the Fleet Command, will be made up of
military platoons from France, the USA, Turkey, the 30th Guards Brigade ‘Mihai
Viteazul’ and the Romanian Naval Forces. The evening of August 15 will end with
the torchlight retreat of the sailors and a fireworks and drone show, which
will mark the end of the 121st anniversary of the Romanian Navy.

(bill&MI)

10 August 2023
Assessments by the National Bank

The National Bank of Romania has revised upward, to 7.5%, the inflation forecast for the end of this year, according to the new estimates presented, on Wednesday, by Governor Mugur Isărescu. The initial forecast was 7.1%. At the end of next year, the inflation rate is expected to be 4.4%. According to the basic scenario, the annual inflation rate will continuously decrease until the projection horizon, i.e. June 2025, but at a relatively slower rate. Mugur Isărescu pointed out that only some increased taxes lead to an increase in inflation, namely the direct taxes on consumption, excises and VAT.

“Increasing income taxes, for example, can even have the opposite effect. It is more difficult to calculate the increase in income taxation. It leads to a decrease in aggregate demand”, the governor of the BNR explained. According to the presentation, the basic scenario was built on the basis of the legislation in force at the time of the projection and does not include the impact of the fiscal consolidation measures recently discussed by the authorities.

The governor of the BNR also showed that both economic growth and consumption are showing signs of slowing down: “We have economic growth, but significantly weakened for this year, compared to what we thought would happen at the beginning of the year. We have an increase in the annual rate of population consumption at T1. This surprised us too, a little. We had an increase in consumption coming from incomes, but we are noticing a softening of consumption. This attenuation is extremely visible, it is probably related to the populations term deposits. They increased significantly during this period, categorically also due to higher interest rates, therefore, lower consumption leads to higher savings”.

In this sense, Mugur Isărescu stated that Romania must have an economic growth based less on consumption and more on investments. Attracting European funds, he emphasized, is essential from this point of view. At the same time, Mugur Isărescu said that the National Bank fully supports a government program of fiscal adjustment and consolidation. He emphasized, however, that the decision to be made should be political, not fiscal.

Also on Wednesday, the National Institute of Statistics — INS announced that the trade balance deficit in the first half of this year was over 13.3 billion Euros, about 2.1 billion Euros lower than the one recorded in the first half of last year. According to the INS, between January 1 and June 30, 2023, important shares in the structure of exports and imports are held by such product groups as machines and transport equipment, namely over 45% for exports and about 36 % for imports, as well as other manufactured products. (LS)

10 August 2023
Advices on Romania’s economy

The longest-lasting leading figure in
post-communist Romania is the country’s Central Bank governor, Mugur Isarescu.
Born in 1949, Isarescu is also the longest lasting chief of a central bank in
the world as he has been on the job since 1990. As an independent candidate, in
1999 he headed the country’s then center-to-right coalition government and in
the next year he ran, without being successful though, for the country’s
presidential seat, mustering only 9.54% of the votes in the first round.

He came back to the
position of governor, which he has kept for nearly a quarter of a century.
Although not very popular with some, his competence and determination haven’t
been contested yet.

Over the past three
decades, Isarescu has cooperated with many heads of government and Finance
Ministers, so his statements have more weight than the emphatic platitudes uttered
by the Romanian politicians who have often failed to fulfil their pledges. On
the very day, the new PSD-PNL government, headed by social-democrat Marcel Ciolacu,
was instated, the Central Bank governor called on the political decision-makers
to adopt what he called a rational thinking. During a new round of talks on the
country’s economic prospects, he mentioned the two directions any development
strategy should be based on: coordination with the European economy and also the
need for balancing the domestic supply-demand ratio. Agriculture, certain industrial areas or
the green energy, he says, should become top priorities and more relevant on
certain markets, such as the food market, currently under fierce competition.
The governor has confessed, his amazement at Romania’s huge food imports in
spite of having a significant agricultural potential.

The business environment prospects have
been presented by the president of the Romanian Chamber of Trade and Industry,
Mihai Daraban, who believes that a viable economic model must start with the
idea of association in the agrifood field, which has registered a significant
imbalance in the country’s international trade. Poland, which boasts one-third
more surface than Romania, has only 90 thousand farmers, whereas Romania has
796 thousand, most of them owners of small farms. So it has become now very
difficult to talk about competitiveness in this area,’ says the head of the
Trade Chamber, whom the economic media has dubbed ‘the employer of employers’. Daraban
has been pleading for Romania’s administrative-territorial reshuffle, which
means the reduction of the number of communes and counties by bringing them
together under the same umbrella, and implicitly cutting down costs with the local
administrations, which proved ineffective and terribly expensive.

(bill)

16 June 2023
Report of the National Bank of Romania on inflation

If until about a year ago the reports of the National Bank of Romania – BNR were eagerly awaited especially by financial, banking or economic experts, or by journalists specializing in these fields, at present ordinary people are also trying to decode the ultra-specialized language of the periodic releases. They are among the big losers of a situation with multiple causes, a situation that, above all, has direct consequences on their daily lives: the huge increase in inflation. What does the latest BNR report, presented on Tuesday by Governor Mugur Isărescu, say? What Romanians actually feel daily in their own pockets: that the inflation rate has intensified its growth rate from April to June and exceeded 15 % against the background of the shocks caused by the skyrocketing energy and fuel prices or by the increase in the price of food products, in especially of the processed ones.

Also according to BNR, inflation would have reached 20% if the Government had not intervened and had not capped energy prices – a commodity that is part of all products. As for the future, we are going to have both good and bad news. Inflation is expected to decrease, but not as much as BNR had previously anticipated. More precisely, the national bank increased the inflation forecast for the end of this year to 13.9% and estimates an inflation of 7.5% for the end of next year. In May, BNR had estimated an inflation rate of 12.5% for the end of this year and 6.7% for 2023. In mid-2024, the inflation rate would be 2.3%. Strongly affected by the price increases are also the people with bank loans. In almost half of the cases, their rates are calculated based on the so-called Robor index. If in January, this Robor index was around 3%, currently it exceeds 8%, much more than the monetary policy interest rate decided by BNR, of 5.5%.

However, Governor Mugur Isărescu admits that it is neither pleasant nor easy to pay higher sums, but the central banks message to the population, for more than a year now, is that the period of low interest rates – as was during the pandemic – has passed. In normal periods, a monetary policy interest rate ranges between 3% and 6%, so Romanians should no longer count on a reduction of loan interest rates. Nevertheless Governor Isărescu himself admits that the Robor index has broken a real record, being too high. Under these circumstances, he conveyed a personal message to the banks as well: namely to look more carefully at the decisions of the National Bank. In other words, he hopes and does believe that the Robor index will decrease to the value of the monetary policy rate. (LS)

10 August 2022
Romania’s Central Bank wants a firmer grip on inflation

Romania’s National Bank has decided to raise by a
point the reference interest rate up to 4.75% in order to get a firmer grip on
liquidity on the currency market and also to keep the present level of the minimum
reserves for liabilities in the local and foreign currencies of the credit
institutions.

The Central Bank’s move has not been anticipated by pundits,
some have envisaged a smaller increase in the reference interest rate though,
as it stood under 2% at the beginning of the year. Governor Isărescu has
pledged that the Central Bank will be using all the instruments available to
keep liquidity under control. According to him, the inflation will continue to
rise at a lower pace by the end of this quarter. And that renders expert
forecasts outdated, mainly because of the price hikes higher than expected.

Mugur
Isărescu: Essential in the worsening of the inflation forecasts are the
higher dynamics in fuel, gas and electricity prices in the following months,
even against the background of the support schemes applied. Worth mentioning are
some basic effects and the prices in processed food mainly due to the stronger hikes
in crude, energy and agri-food products against the background of the war in
Ukraine and the sanctions entailed. Additional inflationist effects are
expected on the segment of the selling costs, spurred by the higher prices
applied by the railway company CFR, as well as the tobacco prices due to the
increased excise.

Under the present circumstances, the Central Bank
has raised the reference interest rate in an attempt to keep prices at bay. Governor Isărescu has explained that given the present
situation, central banks must find a balance between fighting inflation and the
risk of bringing economies to recession. In his opinion, it is vital that
resources, represented by the EU funds made available to Romania, be capitalized
upon properly, including those conditioned by the implementation of reforms.

The reference interest rate is very important being largely
employed by natural persons, companies, banks at the level of the entire
economic system. For instance, banks refer
to it whenever they give loans to clients, natural persons and companies. The
loan cost fluctuates according to the reference interest rate and as it went up
lately it dealt a heavy blow to those with credits in the national currency.
There are also solutions and experts recommend refinancing and opting for a
fixed interest rate. On the other hand, inflation rate in May this year stood
at 14.5% and experts believe the Romanians are in for more price hikes in
products and services in the following months.

(bill)

7 July 2022
September 10, 2021 UPDATE

MESSAGE Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has sent a letter to his US
counterpart, Joe Biden, on the commemoration of 20 years since the terror
attacks on September 11th 2001, the bloodiest in US history. The
Romanian president says that after the attacks, the pain and suffering turned
into solidarity and a common goal in the USA as well as all over the world, in
allied and partner countries, Romania included. According to Iohannis, the
general determination to face common challenges remains a valuable lesson,
always relevant in a period marked by threats coming from some states and
non-state entities. President Iohannis has reiterated Romania’s staying with
the American people, its commitment to fighting terrorism and violent extremism,
irrespective of ideology as well as in consolidating common values, like,
democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and rule of law.

COVID-19 In the past 24 hours Romania has reported 2,520 new Covid -19
infections out of roughly 44 thousand tests conducted. 43 people have been killed by the virus in the past 24 hours. Most of the infections have been
reported in capital Bucharest, 345, in Timis, western Romania, 138, Cluj, in
the north west and 124 in Constanta in the south of the country. All the
counties and the capital Bucharest are still in the so-called green tier in
terms of infections. 4,298 people are being treated in hospitals and 543 in
ICUs. Since the vaccine rollout kicked off in Romania in late December last
year, 5.2 million people have been fully vaccinated. The state of alert in
Romania has been extended for another month starting today.

POLL Four out of five respondents
(81%) say the EU should only grant funding to the member states that observe
democratic principles and the rule of law, according to an Eurobarometer poll
made public on Friday by the European Parliament, ahead of the State of the EU
debate due on September 15. The Eurobarometer shows evident
public support for transparency and effective control of the EU funds provided
as part of the NextGenerationEU programme. According to the poll, 53% of the EU
citizens (58% in Romania) fully agree, and another 32% (29% in Romania) tend to
agree, that efficient control should be in place. Asked about issues the
European Parliament should pursue as its priorities, the respondents mentioned
fighting climate change, poverty and social exclusion, supporting the economy
and creating new jobs, public health, migration and asylum. The Eurobarometer poll was conducted between August 17 and
25, online, in all the 27 member states, with roughly 1,000 interviewees in
most countries.

INFLATION In Romania, the year-on-year
inflation rate reached 5.3% in August, from 5% in July, as non-food prices went
up by 7.92%, food prices by 2.7%, and the prices of services rose by 2.97%,
according to data released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute.
According to a report delivered in August by the National Bank governor Mugur
Isărescu, the central bank updated its inflation forecast for the end of this
year to 5.6%.

(bill)

10 September 2021
Die öffentlichen Renten in der Diskussion

Fünf Millionen Rentner bei insgesamt nur 9 Millionen Arbeitnehmer, ein stetiger Bevölkerungsrückgang, ein chronischer Arbeitskräftemangel, der durch die Abwanderung der Jugend angeheizt wird, und nicht zuletzt ein öffentliches Rentenbudget das immer in den roten Zahlen liegt, das häufige Kredite erfordert, sind Elemente, mit denen Rumänien mittel- und langfristig schlecht aufgestellt ist.

Nach dem Abtritt der sozialdemokratischen Regierung und der Machtantritt der Liberalen rückten Debatten über eine gro‎ß angelegte Reform des öffentlichen Rentensystems in den Vordergrund. Die Ministerin für Arbeit und Sozialschutz, Violeta Alexandru bestätigte für den öffentlichen Radiosender, dass die Möglichkeit eines Gesetzentwurfs analysiert wird, der es den Arbeitnehmern ermöglichen soll, sich für eine Verlängerung des Renteneintrittsalters von derzeit 65 auf 70 Jahre zu entscheiden. Ein so heikles Thema wird mit allen Akteuren ausführlich diskutiert, versprach die Arbeitsministerin:

Violeta Alexandru: Ich persönlich habe keinen Zweifel daran, dass dieses Thema angesichts der Erkenntnisse, die ich von den Rentnern erhalte, eine umfassende gesellschaftliche Debatte erfordert. Einige von ihnen sind sich bewusst, dass ein aktives Leben und eine verlängerte Erwerbstätigkeit mit Leistungen im Sinne höherer Renten verbunden sind und haben das Gefühl, länger arbeiten zu müssen, während andere beabsichtigen, noch früher in den Ruhestand zu gehen, als es das Gesetz vorsieht. Deshalb ist eine Diskussion notwendig. Auf jeden Fall wird eine solche Diskussion nicht davon ausgehen, dass die Menschen gezwungen werden, länger zu arbeiten, sondern sie wird versuchen, den Menschen die Wahl zu lassen, ob sie früher in Rente gehen wollen oder nicht“.

Die Zukunft der öffentlichen Rentensysteme ist ein Anliegen in ganz Europa. Laut Arbeitsministerin gibt es EU-Mitgliedsländer, in denen es eine andere Lebenserwartung als in Rumänien gibt und in denen aktive Ma‎ßnahmen gefördert werden, einschlie‎ßlich einer Anhebung des Renteneintrittsalters. Gleichzeitig gibt es aber auch Länder, in denen die Dinge in dieser Hinsicht noch nicht klar seien.

In Rumänien werden die Rentenleistungen im September um 40 % steigen, eine Anhebung, die von der früheren linken Regierung eingeführt wurde und die Experten angesichts der Aussicht auf schwere Haushaltsungleichgewichte erschauern lässt. Der Gouverneur der Nationalbank, Mugur Isarescu, sagte, solange die Wirtschaft um 4 % wächst, könne man nicht einfach hingehen und die Renten um 40 % erhöhen.

Violeta Alexandru: Das Geld dafür ist vorgesehen. Es geht nicht so sehr um die Auswirkungen auf den Haushalt, sondern vielmehr um eine Entscheidung, die wir getroffen haben, nämlich die Entscheidung, das Gesetz zu befolgen. Uns beschäftigt jedoch die Frage, wie die Sozialdemokratische Partei sich dafür entscheiden konnte, Gesetze nur zu Wahlzwecken zu erlassen, ohne die Signale zu berücksichtigen, die von denjenigen ausgingen, die die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung Rumäniens überwachen und die wissen, dass gro‎ße, plötzliche Sprünge dieser Art nicht ratsam sind“.

Die liberale Regierung kündigte unterdessen Pläne an, die Beiträge zu privat geführten Pensionsfonds auf 6 % zu erhöhen. Bisher haben diese Fonds gute Renditen erzielt, sodass die private Altersvorsorge ein Stabilitätspfeiler in einem Meer von Unsicherheiten bezüglich der staatlich verwalteten Renten ist.

9 January 2020
Le crédit, sous la loupe de la banque centrale.

Dans le cadre d’une conférence annuelle du Centre de résolution des litiges dans le secteur bancaire, qui a eu lieu récemment à Bucarest, le gouverneur de la Banque nationale de Roumanie, Mugur Isarescu a proposé de nouvelles solutions censées assurer une poursuite la croissance économique de la Roumanie. Sachez que la mission du centre est principalement de concilier les intérêts, souvent divergents des clients et des institutions financières. « La banque abuse à chaque reprise de sa position dans la relation avec ses clients », c’est l’expression qui nuit le plus à la confiance des clients dans les banques affirme Mugur Isarescu, le gouverneur de la Banque centrale roumaine. Et c’est justement la mission de ce centre, d’aider les banques à regagner la confiance des clients, explique M Isarescu. A son avis, une alternative saine à l’expansion de la consommation en tant que moteur de la croissance économique pourrait se retrouver dans le crédit.

Même si à l’heure actuelle les déficits de la Roumanie sont bien inférieurs à ceux des années 2007 – 2008, le système financier roumain possédant suffisamment de liquidités, le pays se confronte à un problème lié aux politiques fiscales promues ces dernières années. Mugur Isarescu : « Qu’est ce qui nous manque pour transformer le crédit en une source alternative de croissance économique ? Eh bien il nous manque justement la confiance, une atmosphère plus calme, plus paisible, un cadre législatif stable dans son entier, et non pas une ou deux innovations, le fruit de bonnes intentions. Mais vous savez ce que disait Dante il y a des centaines années : « le chemin de l’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions ». »

Celui-ci a également dit que la croissance économique de la Roumanie reposait actuellement sur la consommation, couverte en grande partie par les importations, ce qui contribue à la création d’emplois dans d’autres pays. Une solution serait d’assurer une croissance économique soutenable reposant sur une compétitivité accrue. Aux dires du chef de la Banque nationale de Roumanie, les banques disposent de suffisamment de fonds pour accorder des crédits et ce rétablissement de la confiance pourrait donner une nouvelle impulsion à cette activité. Ceux qui font appel aux banques pour obtenir des prêts devraient connaitre l’ABC du secteur, soit le fait que l’intérêt primordial des institutions de crédit dans leur relation avec les clients est de récupérer leur argent et non pas de partager le risque commercial avec les bénéficiaires des crédits.

Au cours des trois années et demie depuis la création du centre de résolution alternative des litiges dans le secteur bancaire, les négociations entre consommateurs et institutions financières bancaires et non-bancaires par le biais de conciliateurs ont produit des bénéfices dépassant les deux millions d’euros. La valeur moyenne d’un dossier visant un contrat de crédit, solutionné par le centre s’élève à environ 2.150 euros. Selon les études réalisées au niveau de la Banque Mondiale, lorsqu’un consommateur dispose de la possibilité de résoudre une doléance, une complainte, un mécontentement d’une manière extrêmement simple et peu couteuse, sa confiance dans le système financier-bancaire dans son entier ne fait qu’augmenter.

20 November 2019
Die Situation des Staatshaushalts ist besorgniserregend

Sobald er sein Amt als Finanzminister angetreten hat, kündigte Florin Cîţu an, dass die Situation des Staatshaushalts besorgniserregend sei und er nächste Woche die aktualisierten Zahlen für das laufende Haushaltsjahr vorlegen werde. Florin Cîţu : “Die Ausführung des Staatshaushalts ist beunruhigend. Nach neun Monaten haben wir ein Defizit von über 2,6 %. Meiner Meinung nach wird sich das Defizit nach zehn Monate erhöhen, was unsere grö‎ßten Befürchtungen der letzten zwei Jahre bestätigt. Wir müssen die Haushaltsanpassung vor dem 30. November durchführen, es wird sehr schnell geschehen müssen. Es wird auch notwendig sein, den Haushalt für 2020 so weit wie möglich vor Ende des Jahres aufzustellen. Es gibt noch ein weiteres Problem: die Reduzierung der Ministerien von 28 auf 16. Dies erfordert eine Änderung des aktuellen Haushalts. »

Der Gouverneur der Zentralbank, Mugur Isărescu äu‎ßerte sich besorgt über den möglichen Anstieg des Haushaltsdefizits. Nach Angaben der Rumänischen Nationalbank hängen, die mit der Inflation verbundenen Unsicherheiten und Risiken von der zukünftigen Politik ab. Unsicherheit bringen auch die Wahlen 2019 und 2020, wobei unter anderem die Steuer- und Einkommenspolitik betroffen sein könnten.

Mugur Isărescu fordert, dass tragfähige Lösungen gefunden werden müssen, welche die Ungleichgewichte nicht weiter verschärfen: “Wir sind uns bewusst, dass es schwierig ist, aus einer dreijährigen prozyklischen Politik herauszukommen. Daraus resultierte ein Wachstum von 4 %, 5 % und 7 %, und es gab auch Defizite an der 3 % Grenze, während wir kleinere Defizite haben sollten. Es ist schwierig, aus dieser Politik auszusteigen, aber nicht unmöglich, und wir werden zu diesem Zweck Gespräche mit der Regierung führen. Nur weil wir besorgt sind, hei‎ßt das nicht, dass wir beunruhigt sind. »

Andererseits sind die internationalen Finanzinstitute optimistisch, was die Entwicklung der rumänischen Wirtschaft betrifft. So hat beispielsweise die Europäische Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung ihre Prognosen für das Wirtschaftswachstum bis Ende des Jahres nach oben korrigiert und die Wachstumsrate des BIP auf dem gleichen Niveau gehalten. Laut einem Bericht der Organisation, wird für 2019 ein Wachstum der rumänischen Wirtschaft von 4 % erwartet, was über dem ursprünglich geschätzten Anstieg von 3,2 % liegt. Der gleiche Bericht zeigt den Anstieg der Inflationsrate in Rumänien, die von 3,3 % im vergangenen Dezember auf 3,9 % in der ersten Hälfte des laufenden Jahres gestiegen ist und damit das Inflationsziel der rumänischen Zentralbank übertraf. Was den Internationalen Währungsfonds betrifft, so empfiehlt er Rumänien, eine restriktive Geldpolitik beizubehalten, die den Inflationsdruck kontrollieren soll, so einer der regionalen Berichte des IWF an Europa. Im vergangenen Monat hat der grö‎ßte Geber seine Wachstumsprognosen für die rumänische Wirtschaft für dieses Jahr von 3,1 auf 4 % angehoben.

7 November 2019
The Week in Review 8-14.07.2019

The pension law has been promulgated by the Romanian President Klaus
Iohannis

President Klaus Iohannis has promulgated
a new pension law which provides, among other things, for a pensions’ increase
and the recalculation of millions of pensions that are now in payment process.
The bill was voted by Parliament in June after the first version had been
returned to the legislative by the Constitutional Court. The law stipulates the
increase in the pension point, which will be implemented gradually as of
September 2019 until 2022.

Also, under the new law, all
remuneration rights for which contributions to the state budget have been paid,
such as benefits, 13th salary, overtime, bonuses, etc will be
capitalized on. Under the law, women who have completed the minimum
contribution period of 15 years and have given birth to 3 children whom they
have raised up to the age of 16 will benefit from a reduction of the retirement
age by 6 years. Starting with the 4th child, one year will be added
for each child at the initial 6 years. The survivors’ benefits are maintained
with a new amendment: aid for the surviving spouse amounting to 25% of the
pension of the deceased spouse. The standard retirement age for men is 65 and
for women 63. The minimum contribution period is 15 years for both women and
men while the complete contribution period is 35 years.

GRECO will continue to monitor Romania

The latest GRECO report on Romania
published by Brussels officials is a new red card for the PSD-ALDE ruling, says
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis who has also called for dismantling the
special section for the investigation of offences in the judiciary through a
government initiative. Iohannis has also called on the executive to come up
quickly with a draft law in order to bring justice legislation back in line
with the will of the people and the recommendations from European institutions.

GRECO, the Council of Europe
anti-corruption body, believes Romania has made very little progress in putting in place measures to prevent
corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors and to address the
concerns raised by its controversial reform of the judicial system. Greco is
particularly critical of the lack of action to address the need for objective
selection criteria when appointing and dismissing prosecutors, which is posing
serious threats to the independence of the judiciary. GRECO decided to continue
evaluating Romania’s compliance with the pending recommendations contained in
the two reports and has requested that the Romanian authorities report back on
progress achieved by 30th June 2020.

Former MEP,
Social-Democrat Ioan Mircea Pascu has been designated interim European
commissioner without portfolio

Social Democrat Ioan Mircea Pascu, a former MEP proposed by the PSD-ALDE
government in Bucharest for the position of interim European Commissioner for
Regional Policy, has been designated member of the community executive but
without portfolio. In the same situation is the Estonian candidate Kadri
Simson. The decision has been made by the president of the European Commission
Jean Claude Juncker who didn’t bestow specific portfolios on the two candidates
due to their short mandate, which is due to end on October 31st,
when a fresh European Commission is expected to begin its mandate.

They will participate
in the Commission’s activities and in the team project. Under the regulations,
the European Commission president has interviewed the two candidates and
confirmed their competences. Ioan Mircea Pascu and Kadri Simson are to be
interviewed on Wednesday by commission presidents in the European Parliament and
the MEPs are to cast their votes on the two candidates in Strasbourg on
Thursday.

A veteran left-wing politician, Pascu, 70, got involved in politics
shortly after the anti-communist revolution of 1989. He was the country’s
Defence Minister in 2004 when Romania entered NATO and an MEP since the country
joined the European Union in 2007 until this year. Before 2014 and 2019 he was
one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament.

According to data
provided by the National Institute for Statistics, Romania’s inflation rate
went down to 3.4%

Romania’s economic growth of 4%
last year remained robust though being mainly based on consumption and less on
investment, the country’s central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said during the
presentation of the institution’s annual report. However, Romania is among the
countries with the lowest public debt, 35% of its GDP, Isarescu went on to say.
Referring to the 3.84% inflation rate, the governor explained that inflation
went down because of the slight drops in food and non-food prices.

In mid-May the central bank revised
its inflation forecast up to 4.2% this year, and a 3.3% inflation rate for 2020.
Also in May, the European Commission estimated that Romania’s inflation rate
would stay around 3.6% in 2019 and 3% in 2020. Mugur Isarescu, who has been
governor of Romania’s central bank since 1990, has again been confirmed by
Parliament for a fresh mandate.

Four Romanian football sides are playing in the European cups

Romania’s vice-champions FCSB,
formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, on Thursday secured a 2-0 win against
Milsami Orhei from the neighboring Republic of Moldova in the first round of
the Europa League’s first preliminary stage. Also on Thursday, CSU Craiova,
from south-western Romania clinched a 3-2 away win against FK Sabail of
Azerbaijan.

On Tuesday, Romania’s champions CFR
Cluj conceded a 0-1 defeat in an away game against Kazakh side FC Astana in the
Champions League. The return games will be taking place next week. Romanian Cup
holder, Viitorul Constanta will play directly in the competition’s second
preliminary round against Belgian side FC Anvers, coached by former Romanian
international Ladislau Boloni.

(translated by bill)

13 July 2019
The Central Bank’s yearly report

The European
Commission has revised its forecasts on Romania’s economic growth rate this
year up to 4% pointing out to a rise in its GDP of up to 3.3%. However, there
is a significant difference between the European Commission forecasts and those
made by the authorities in Bucharest who drew up the country’s budget based on
a 5.5% growth.

According to the
EU Executive’s summer estimates, the growth rate is going to slow down next
year to 3.7%. Public consumption remains the economy’s main engine, spurred by
the latest pay rises. Investment is also on the rise chiefly thanks to the
recovery experienced by the construction sector, stimulated by fiscal measures.

The Commission believes
inflation will stay around 4.2% this year and at 3.7% next year. Romania has a
robust economic growth though it remains chiefly based on consumption, the
country’s central bank governor Mugur Isarescu says. During the presentation of
the bank’s annual report, Isarescu has explained how the economic growth is
backed less by investment whereas the export’s negative contribution has been
significantly higher than in 2007.

Mugur Isarescu: We have an economic growth or domestic absorption to be more correct,
beyond what the economy can provide. Consumption has been boosted more than
what the economy can provide and part of this growing demand, coming from pay
rises, from stimulated consumption, could not be covered from the domestic
output and was covered from imports instead. The consolidated budget was being kept
under 3% but it’s been the last time since 2015 when we are able to meet our
structural deficit budget around the limit of 3%. Budget, salary and investment
expenses are going in opposite directions.

Mugur Isarescu
has declared himself satisfied with the low fluctuation of the national
currency and also with the public debt, which remained at the same debt-to-GDP
ratio, around 35%, being among Europe’s lowest.

Mugur Isarescu: In spite of negativistic forecasts, the debt rate didn’t rise as against
the GDP. Of course, the GDP’s rapid growth has largely contributed to that.
Public debt stands around 35% of GDP, one of the lowest in Europe and we’d
better keep it at this ratio.

This performance
has also been noticed by the rating agencies, and that could allow us to get bigger
loans from the international market at relatively low costs, Mugur Isarescu has
explained. The problem is how we use money and why we see this deficit increase.
Referring to the inflation rate, the central bank governor said that after an
increase in the first half of last year, towards the end of the year, it
reached the level of 2017.

With a mandate
of almost 30 years at the helm of the country’s central bank governor, Mugur
Isarescu says that Romania boasts a credible central bank stable at international
level, which has obtained good financial results.

(translated by
bill)

11 July 2019
Nachrichten 03.07.2019

Nach einer Entscheidung des rumänischen Verfassungsgerichts vom Mittwoch könnten mehrere erstinstanzliche Urteile in prominenten Korruptionsfällen aufgehoben und die Verfahren wieder aufgenommen werden. Das Gericht hatte Einwänden stattgegeben, denen nach erstinstanzliche Spruchkörper am OGH nicht rechtmä‎ßig gebildet wurden, da sie nicht auf die Bearbeitung von Korruptionsstraftaten spezalisiert waren. Die neuliche rechtskräftige Verurteilung von Ex-Psd-Chef Liviu Dragnea sei davon nicht betroffen, argumentierten Experten.

Premierministerin Viorica Dăncilă hat einen Bericht über den rumänischen EU-Ratsvorsitz im ersten Halbjahr vorgelegt. Demnach sei die Präsidentschaft ein Erfolg gewesen; Rumänien habe zudem bewiesen, dass es den Werten des Europäischen Parlaments stark verbunden sei, indem es sich für die Konsolidierung des europäischen Projekts, für eine Union der Bürger, der Freiheiten, der gemeinsamen Anstrengungen und Fähigkeiten einsetzt. Rumänien habe seine Pflicht erfüllt und bewiesen, dass es ein verantwortungsbewusstes Mitglied der Union ist, das sich um die Weiterentwicklung der europäischen Agenda zum Wohle der Bürger kümmert, so Dăncilă.

Das Plenum des Parlaments hat in Bukarest den neuen Verwaltungsrat der rumänischen Zentralbank bestätigt. Chef der Bank bleibt Mugur Isărescu, der seit 1990 mit einer kurzen Auszeit im Amt ist. Die Zentralbank werde weiterhin auf eine vorsichtige und verantwortungsbewusste Politik setzen und hat als langfristiges Ziel den Beitritt des Landes zur Eurozone, sagte Isărescu bei den Anhörungen am Dienstag. Der Verwaltungsrat der Zentralbank, die in Rumänien Nationalbank hei‎ßt, besteht aus neun Mitgliedern, die vom Parlament für jeweils fünf Jahre gewählt werden.

Die Abgeordnetenkammer hat am Mitwoch eine Wahlgesetznovelle verabschiedet, die Verzögerungen und Schwierigkeiten bei der Abstimmung im Ausland vermeiden soll. Unter anderem ermöglicht das Gesetz rumänischen Bürgern im Ausland, bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen in diesem Jahr entweder per Brief oder im Laufe von drei Tagen in Wahllokalen abzustimmen. Am Sonntag besteht für Wahllokale im In- und Ausland die Möglichkeit, die Abstimmung bis Mitternacht zu verlängern, falls Bürger noch im Lokal auf ihre Stimmabgabe warten. Erste Umfragen zu den Ergebnissen dürfen erst am Sonntag nach Mitternacht veröffentlicht werden.

Das Europäische Parlament hat am Mittwoch den italienischen Sozialisten David Sassoli zu seinem Präsidenten gewählt. Der 63jährige Ex-Journalist aus Florenz soll nach Vereinbarung der Staats- und Regierungschefs der EU sein Amt für zweieinhalb Jahre ausüben und dann von einem EVP-Politiker abgelöst werden. Die EU-Staaten haben am Dienstag die deutsche Verteidigungsministerin Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) als Präsidentin der Europäischen Kommission vorgeschlagen. Sie muss allerdings noch im Europäischen Parlament bestätigt werden. Für die nächsten fünf Jahre wird der spanische Au‎ßenminister Josep Borrell Hoher Vertreter für auswärtige Angelegenheiten und der belgische Premierminister Charles Michel der nächste Präsident des Europäischen Rates. Die Französin Christine Lagarde, bislang IWF-Chefin soll die Europäische Zentralbank übernehmen.

Die moldauische Premierministerin Maia Sandu und der EU-Nachbarschaftskommissar Johannes Hahn haben am Mittwoch in Brüssel über die Konsolidierung des Dialogs auf höchster Ebene zwischen der Republik Moldau und der Europäischen Union diskutiert. Premierministerin Maia Sandu wies darauf hin, dass ihre Regierung die demokratischen Institutionen wieder aufbauen und das Vertrauen der Bürger in den Staat wiederherstellen wolle, indem sie die Missbräuche und Unregelmä‎ßigkeiten der früheren Regierung untersucht, eine auf Integrität und öffentlichem Vertrauen basierende Justiz schafft, Fachleute in Schlüsselpositionen einsetzt und die Bedingungen des EU-Assoziierungsabkommens erfüllt. Besprochen wurde auch die Zusammenarbeit im Bereich der EU-Unterstützung und die Möglichkeiten zur Stärkung der bilateralen Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen der Östlichen Partnerschaft. Kommissar Hahn begrü‎ßte die Bemühungen der moldauischen Regierung, die Reformen voranzutreiben, und erklärte, dass die EU die Entwicklungen in der Republik Moldau genau verfolgt.

Beim rumänisch-rumänischen Duell in der zweiten Runde in Wimbledon hat sich Simona Halep gegen Mihalea Buzarnescu in 3 Sätzen (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) durchgesetzt. Halep und Monica Niculescu, die am Dienstag Andreea Petkovic aus Deutschland besiegte, sind als einzige rumänische Spielerinnen im Rennen geblieben.

3 July 2019
08.01.2019 (mise à jour)

Bruxelles – Le ministre délégué aux Affaires européennes, George Ciamba, a participé, à Bruxelles, à la réunion du Conseil Affaires générales, présidée, en première, par la Roumanie. Cétait loccasion pour Bucarest de présenter la liste des priorités de sa présidence du Conseil de lUnion, quelle exercera au premier semestre 2019. Le Brexit, le cadre financier pluriannuel sur la période 2021-2027 et la lutte contre la désinformation en ligne dans le contexte de prochaines élections européennes ont fait partie des thèmes abordés à cette occasion à Bruxelles, par le ministre George Ciamba. La visite à Bucarest les 10 et 11 janvier prochain du Collège des Commissaires européens marque pratiquement le moment du lancement officiel à Bucarest de la présidence roumaine du Conseil de lUE, a précisé le ministre Ciamba. Les quatre piliers du mandat roumain sont lEurope de la convergence, lEurope de la sécurité, lEurope en tant quacteur régional et lEurope des valeurs communes.

Autriche – Les travailleurs roumains dAutriche, qui ont vu diminuer, suite aux modifications opérées dans la législation autrichienne, les allocations reçues pour leurs enfants restés en Roumanie, peuvent sadresser au Centre SOLVIT Roumanie, fonctionnant dans le cadre du ministère des affaires étrangères de Bucarest. SOLVIT est un réseau mis au point et coordonné par la Commission européenne dans le domaine du marché intérieur, et dont le fonctionnement repose sur la coopération des 31 centres créés au sein des administrations publiques des Etats membre de lEspace Economique Européen. Concrètement, en cas de problème, le Centre SOLVIT Roumanie contactera le Centre SOLVIT Autriche qui devra contacter à son tour lautorité nationale compétente pour identifier une solution. Par ailleurs, lEtat roumain a lancé des démarches auprès de la Commission européenne au sujet des mesures législatives autrichiennes qui ramènent les allocations pour les enfants des travailleurs roumains dAutriche au niveau des allocations de Roumanie.

Cohésion – La Commission européenne a prévu pour la Roumanie une allocation en matière de politique de cohésion de 31 milliards deuros pour la période 2021 – 2027, 8% de plus que pour lexercice 2014-2020, a déclaré la commissaire européenne à la Politique régionale, Corina Creţu. Lenveloppe pour la politique de cohésion est la plus importante – 373 milliards deuros pour la période de laprès-2020, et la Roumanie, ainsi que la Bulgarie, la Grèce, lEspagne, lItalie et la Finlande, toucheront des sommes plus conséquentes par rapport à lexercice actuel, a ajouté la responsable européenne. Selon Corina Creţu, la Commission européenne souhaite lancer rapidement les négociations avec le Conseil et le Parlement européen (les trialogues) et simplifier les procédures daccès aux fonds européens. Les retards dans la mise en œuvre des projets seront ainsi évités, et cela concernera des centaines de milliers de projets (dans le domaine social, des transports, de la santé, de la recherche, de lefficience énergétique, de lagenda numérique etc.) dans tous les Etats membres, a remarqué la commissaire européenne. Corina Creţu précise quelle abordera ce sujet dans le cadre de la visite quentreprennent à Bucarest les 10 et 11 janvier prochains le président de la Commission européenne Jean-Claude Juncker, le président du Conseil européen, Donald Tusk, le président du Parlement européen, Antonio Tajani, et le Collège des commissaires.

Parquet anticorruption – Ladjoint du procureur en chef du Parquet anticorruption, Călin Nistor, va assurer la période dintérim à la tête de linstitution après que lactuelle titulaire, Anca Jurma a annoncé ne plus désirer que son mandat de chef par intérim du Parquet anticorruption soit prorogé. Le procureur général de la Roumanie, Augustin Lazăr, présent mardi a une réunion avec la direction du Parquet anticorruption, a pris la décision de ne plus avancer de nom pour occuper le poste de procureur en chef par intérim. Alors, selon le règlement intérieur du Parquet anticorruption deux des adjoints du procureur en chef, Călin Nistor et Marius Iacob, sont pressentis pour occuper, dans lordre, le poste de procureur en chef par intérim. Le poste de procureur en chef du Parquet anticorruption est à prendre, après que lancienne titulaire, Laura Codruţa Kovesi, a été relevée de ses fonctions par un décret issu le 9 juillet dernier par le président Klaus Iohannis, en vertu dune décision de la Cour constitutionnelle portant sur laffaire. Le ministre de la Justice a ultérieurement avancé le nom dAdina Florea pour occuper ce poste, mais le chef de lEtat a rejeté la proposition ministérielle. Par ailleurs, Laura Codruta Kovesi avait annoncé avoir déposé au mois de décembre dernier une plainte devant la Cour européenne des droits de lhomme, réclamant des violations aux Droits de lHomme à son égard dans le processus qui a mené à sa révocation.

Banques – Le gouverneur de la Banque nationale de Roumanie, Mugur Isărescu, a déclaré, dans une conférence de presse, que lordonnance durgence du gouvernement par laquelle les banques, entre autres, seront surtaxées, na pas été discutée par lExécutif ni avec les représentants du secteur bancaire, ni avec la Banque centrale. M Isărescu a ajouté que la Banque nationale de Roumanie avait des éclaircissements à demander sur la manière dont cette taxe sappliquera et quil demanderait que le décret durgence soit discuté au Comité national pour la surveillance macro prudentielle, parce quil a un impact sur lensemble du système. Lordonnance adoptée en décembre dernier prévoit, entre autres, de taxer les établissements financiers et bancaires suivant lévolution de lindice Robor, soit le taux dintérêt moyen de prêt entre les institutions bancaires de Roumanie, et selon les spécialistes de la BNR, son évolution est liée à linflation et au niveau de liquidité sur le marché.

Migrants – La Roumanie, et dautres Etats membres de lUE, ont exprimé leur disponibilité de principe pour prendre en charge 5 migrants, a annoncé, mardi, le ministère des Affaires étrangères de Bucarest. Selon ce dernier, la décision est un geste ponctuel de solidarité que la Roumanie, qui assure la présidence semestrielle du Conseil de lUE souhaite faire passer, un signal positif, dencouragement des autres Etats de lUnion à suivre une conduite similaire, vu la situation particulièrement délicate dans laquelle se trouvent les 49 migrants. Ils sont arrivés à bord de deux navires au large des côtes maltaises sans recevoir la permission de mouiller ; ces derniers jours, 248 autres migrants de différents pays dAfrique du Nord sont arrivés à Malte, selon le MAE. La présidence roumaine du Conseil de lUE plaide pour renforcer la coopération avec les Etats africains dorigine et de transit afin de gérer la migration clandestine à la source et de consolider les politiques de développement par rapport aux Etats africains, censées conduire à une réponse durable devant ce phénomène.

Grippe – La ministre de la Santé, Sorina Pintea, a fait état mardi de la mort de quatre personnes, emportées par la grippe. La ministre a déclaré que pour linstant on ne pouvait pas parler dune épidémie de grippe, mais que lon craint que le virus ne sactive davantage au mois de février. Selon les spécialistes du Centre national pour la surveillance et le contrôle des maladies transmissibles, 67 personnes ont été touchées par le virus depuis le début de la saison froide. Jusquà la fin de lannée passée, 1,2 millions de personnes appartenant aux groupes à risque ont été vaccinées grâce aux vaccins distribués par le ministère de la Santé.

8 January 2019
May 9, 2018

Strike cancelled — The Romanian healthcare trade unions have given up the all-out strike scheduled for Friday after reaching an agreement with the government over salary benefits. The leader of SANITAS, Leonard Bărăscu, pointed out that an agreement with 7 main points was concluded, and all provisions would be applied to salary rights that would be granted starting in May. Also, negotiations will be resumed in relation to the collective bargaining agreement in the healthcare system. In turn, the health minister Sorina Pintea announced that the government would modify the unitary pay law in the public system.

Iran nuclear deal — American President Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal and reimpose economic sanctions against Iran. The 2015 nuclear deal curbed Irans nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions that had been imposed by the UN, US and EU. President Trump harshly criticized the deal claiming that the agreement did not prevent Iran from funding terrorism and from destabilizing the Middle East. In a joint declaration, France, Germany and Great Britain have expressed regret for Mr. Trump’s decision and announced they remained committed to the deal. The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU decided to support the agreement. The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Teheran would observe the deal. The American President’s decision was hailed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel while the Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia was deeply disappointed with Donald Trump’s decision.

May 9 — The Romanian Defense Ministry organizes Wednesday May 9 military ceremonies in Bucharest and across the country to mark May 9, a day with a threefold significance for Romanians. Romania celebrates the State Independence Day proclaimed in 1877. The Romanian soldiers fought in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 obtaining independence from the Ottoman Empire. May 9 also marks the victory of the United Nations Coalition in WWII. Thirdly on May 9 Romania marks Europe Day known as Schuman Day, in commemoration of the 1950 Schuman Declaration. The French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed a plan for economic cooperation between France and Germany to give up historical rivalries between the two states.

Tennis — The Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep, will take on, today, the Czech Kristyna Pliskova (94 WTA) in the eighth finals of the Madrid tournament which has total prizes up for grabs worth almost 6.7 million Euros. On Tuesday Halep defeated the Belgian Elise Mertens (16 WTA) 6-0, 6-3. The Romanian tennis player is the winner of the last two editions of the Madrid tournament.

Eurovision — Ten countries (Austria, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Israel, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Albania, Finland and Ireland) have qualified to the final of the Eurovision 2018 song contest following the first semifinal held on Tuesday night in Lisbon. Romania’s representatives, The Humans band, will sing the piece “Goodbye” on Thursday in the second semifinal. The artists representing the founding members of the contest, namely Germany, Italy, Britain, France and Spain alongside Portugal, last year’s winner, have automatically qualified to Saturday’s final.

Economy — The governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, on Wednesday said, upon the presentation of the quarterly report on inflation, that in March the inflation rate reached 4.95%, which is the highest value reported over the past 5 years. In another development, at the Country Risk Conference hosted today in Bucharest, the national bank governor’s main advisor on monetary policy, Lucian Croitoru, said that the attitude towards inflation and competitiveness was the most important thing Romania should take into account in the process of integration into the Euro zone. He added that integration into the Euro zone had to be made with much care, as this is one of Romania’s most sensitive moves. Eurostat data published in April show that Romania reported the highest inflation rate in March within the EU. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

9 May 2018