Radio România Internațional

Tag: ministries

  • 2024 budget, promulgated

    2024 budget, promulgated

    Approved on December 15 by the government and, five days later, by Parliament through an accelerated procedure, the State Budget Law and the State Social Security Budget Law for 2024 were promulgated on Thursday by President Klaus Iohannis. Inflation and maintaining macroeconomic balances are the main challenges of 2024, said the Prime Minister, in the plenum of Parliament, when he presented the draft state budget for 2024, built, according to Marcel Ciolacu, in such a way as to ensure the increase in citizens well-being. The strategic targets on which this budget is based are, according to the prime minister, a coherent economic strategy to achieve in 2024 the second highest economic growth in the European Union, record investments, increased incomes for 12 million Romanians, including pensioners, a stronger economic environment by accessing aid schemes for development and the creation of new jobs.



    But, at the same time, in order to have a fair, truly competitive economic environment, with fewer exemptions and tax facilities, the government needs a coherent plan for distributing budget expenditures and a package of measures to increase collection and effectively combat tax evasion, along with a firm guarantee for the security of citizens in the context of the war in Ukraine, by allocating a budget of 2.5% of the GDP for defense. It is a carefully gauged budget, to mitigate inflationary pressures, Marcel Ciolacu claims. ‘Just like in 2023, we will have an economy that will grow on investments, not on consumption, and for this we decided to prioritize investments, which will generate half of the economic growth and will have a growth rate double the consumption rate’, the prime minister explained, given that in the matrix of next years budget construction, investments have a special place, amounting to about 7% of the Gross Domestic Product.



    And in order to stop throwing money on tens of thousands of projects started and never completed, over 150 important investment projects were selected for 2024, of which 108 for the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, 21 for the Ministry of Development, 13 for the Environment Ministry and 9 for the Health Ministry. Besides infrastructure, the other two strategic areas in which massive investments will be made in 2024 will be Education and Health. Economic growth is expected to be 3.4%, while the budget deficit is estimated at 5% of the GDP. The opposition, however, criticized the budget construction. Unrealistic, built on false figures, without any vision, the budget bill does not ensure the development of Romania, say the representatives of the opposition parties. According to their calculations, following the overestimation of revenues and the underestimation of expenses, the budget deficit will exceed 7% of the GDP, consequently, there will be no fiscal consolidation, on the contrary. (LS)

  • May 13, 2021

    May 13, 2021

    ALERT As of today, the state of alert in Romania is extended by another month. Some restrictions have been lifted, however, such as the one regarding participation in religious processions or pilgrimages. Other measures still remain in place. Pilot cultural and sports events will also be organised, with attendance allowed for people who have got the vaccine, who have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 3 months, or who test negative for the disease. Private or public celebrations or parties, whether indoors or outdoors, are still banned.



    COVID-19 President Klaus Iohannis has a working meeting scheduled today with PM Florin Cîţu, several other Cabinet members, the head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, and the head of the National Infectious Disease Monitoring and Control Centre with the Public Health Institute, Adriana Pistol. Also attending will be deputy PM Dan Barna, the interior minister Lucian Bode, the defence minister Nicolae Ciucă, and the health minister Ioana Mihăilă. The meeting will focus on the lifting of COVID-19 containment measures. Some 130,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses are scheduled to reach Bucharest today. So far, Romania has received over 2.2 million vaccine doses from the British-Swedish company. More than 3.7 million people have received Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs in Romania, and two-thirds of them have also got the booster dose. Meanwhile, the entire country is in the so-called green scenario. According to the Strategic Communication Group, the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in Bucharest is 1.42 per thousand. On Thursday 953 new COVID-19 cases and 75 related deaths were reported, as well as 829 patients in intensive care.



    CONFERENCE The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias co-chair today an informal conference call of EU foreign ministers. Also attending the online meeting are the foreign ministers of Albania, Olta Xhacka and of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, as well as EU officials. According to the Romanian foreign ministry, Bogdan Aurescu will emphasise that ‘the EU enlargement process must remain a major priority for the Union, given the transforming power of this European policy.’ Todays meeting takes place after a recent meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, which included a strategic discussion on the Western Balkans, at the request of Romania and other member states.



    VISIT The Romanian Senate Speaker Anca Dragu is on a 3-day official visit to Spain, as of today, at the invitation of her counterpart Maria Pilar Llop Cuenca. The visit is aimed at strengthening political dialogue and the traditional friendship between the 2 countries. On the same occasion, in the Patio de los Naranjos Hall of the Spanish Senate, an Exhibition of Romanian and Spanish Diplomatic Archives will be opened. The exhibition is devoted to the 140 years of diplomatic relations between the 2 countries. The Romanian delegation will also have online meetings with members of the Romanian community in Spain, and will visit the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre and the EU Satellite Centre.



    CORRUPTION The former mayor of Bucharests Sector 5, Marian Vanghelie, was sentenced on Thursday to 11 years and 8 months in prison, in a corruption case. The ruling is not final. He was also ordered to pay damages of over 15 million euro to the Bucharest Sector 5 City Hall. Marian Vanghelie was indicted in 2015 for 9 counts of bribe-taking and abuse of office and 7 counts of money laundering. According to the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, in 2006 – 2014, Marian Vanghelie, then a mayor, asked for and received undue benefits in the amount of nearly 30 million euro (accounting for a fee of 20% of the contracts). A former member of the Social Democratic Party (in opposition), Marian Vanghelie was a mayor between 2000 and 2016, and in the 2020 local elections he ran unsuccessfully for a new term in office.



    ISRAEL Hamas fired rockets on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem early on Thursday, with Israel promising to carry on strikes against the Islamist group in Gaza, although the US president Joe Biden had said the clashes, the most violent in recent years, will be over soon, Reuters reports. Over 1,000 rockets fired from Gaza strip on Monday hit Israel, and scores of people were killed and hundreds wounded so far, mostly Palestinians. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, called for the de-escalation of the conflict.



    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 3 in the world, announced having suffered a torn calf muscle which forced her out of the Italian Open, in Wednesdays match against Germanys Angelique Kerber. She says she will have an MRI investigation to determine how serious the injury is. The defending champion in Foro Italico, the Romanian player withdrew in the second set of the match against Kerber, after she had won the first set. Given the preliminary diagnosis, she risks missing the Roland Garros tournament due to start on May 30. Halep won the Paris tournament in 2018. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Priorities for the new ministers

    Priorities for the new ministers

    The members of the new Government headed by Ludovic Orban Tuesday took over their posts, after the new Cabinet was endorsed by Parliament. The Liberal Government follows Viorica Dancilas Social Democratic Cabinet, removed through a no-confidence vote on October 10. The new ministers announced their intentions right from the start of their term in office.



    A trained diplomat, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said the ministry needed reforms and a more professional diplomatic corps. He also requested a report on the preparations for the presidential election in the Romanian communities abroad.



    Bogdan Aurescu: “I will ask the heads of consular and diplomatic missions to immediately submit a report on the status of preparations and on possible risks and vulnerabilities. We will see if there is anything we can do and exactly what, within the powers of the foreign minister and the Government.



    Bogdan Aurescu made these statements ahead of Fridays start of the voting in polling stations abroad for the election of the president of Romania. The Romanians living abroad will be able to vote on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in each of the 2 election rounds.



    Meanwhile, the Ministry for Romanians Abroad has been turned into a governmental department subordinated directly to the Prime Minister. The post of Minister delegate for European Affairs has also been discarded, and this department will be coordinated jointly by the Foreign Ministry and the PMs office.



    In turn, the new Defence Minister, gen. Nicolae Ciuca, former Chief of Staff of the Romanian Army, announced he would focus on fulfilling Romanias obligations as a NATO and EU member state. He mentioned the importance of the budgetary allocations for the Army:



    Nicolae Ciuca: “What we have undertaken to do with the 2% of the GDP is to ensure the capabilities with which Romania may consolidate its status as a reliable partner in the North-Atlantic Alliance, in the European Union and in the Armys strategic partnerships.



    As for the field of public finances, Minister Florin Citu wants the draft budget for 2020 to be finalised by December 15. He added that the state budget will be based on the current legislation, but that the draft prepared by the Dancila Government cannot be used because the structure of the government has been changed:



    Florin Citu: “Everything will be different from what has been done so far, including the budget. We have fewer ministries and this is where the budget drafting will begin, from the new structure of the government. The target is unchanged, namely a 3% deficit ceiling, which is quite ambitious because as you know the deficit for the first 9 months of the year is 2.6%. Well see what we find there, this is precisely why we wanted to take over this portfolio without delay.



    At the Justice Ministry, Catalin Predoiu pointed out that he wants a discussion about the need for a separate department investigating offences committed by magistrates. He urged prosecutors to take part in the procedures for the appointment of chief prosecutors, and said political criteria or personal friendships will play no part in these appointments:



    Catalin Predoiu: “I call on prosecutors to take this selection process very seriously and to act responsibly, and I believe that every prosecutor who feels they are capable of bringing progress, professionalism and a better organisation in the Public Ministry should enrol in the race.



    Last but not least, the new Labour Minister Violeta Alexandru announced thorough checks into the budget for public pensions, amid allegations that the Social Democratic Government left behind a worrying deficit. She also promised transparency and accurate information delivered to citizens.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • The 2018 budget under debate

    The 2018 budget under debate


    The 2018 state and social security bills are being debated in the joint budget and finance committees of Romania’s Parliament, with the final vote on the bills scheduled for December 21. The authorities count on revenues almost 6.6 billion Euros higher than last year, to be split between healthcare, education and investments.



    The Finance Minister Ionuţ Mişa pointed out that the budget for 2018 was based on a 5.5% economic growth rate, a 3.1% inflation rate, an average exchange rate of 4.55 lei for the Euro and an increase in the average number of employees by 4.2%.



    Ionuţ Mişa believes that the revenues taken into account in drafting the budget are realistic: “During 2017, we had an increase in revenues of 12.85 billion lei for a 10-month period as compared to 2016. If we take this revenue growth as a reference figure, I don’t think that anyone can claim that revenues are not sustainable in 2018.”



    The opposition, however, says that the budget revenues are overestimated. Florin Cîţu is a senator with the National Liberal Party: “According to my own estimates, revenues are overestimated by almost 8.6 billion lei, of which 5 billion in relation to the collection of the VAT. Apart from the VAT, there is one more budget component with overstated revenues, namely social contributions.”



    The Finance Minister says that, besides certain measures that lead to an increase in expenses such as pay rises, holidays vouchers, the rise in minimum wages, in pensions and in social benefits for pensioners, the budget also provides for measures to cap expenses. The opposition has filed almost 4 thousand amendments, but the greatest part of the budgets for ministries and the main credit release authorities have been approved by the expert’s committees in the form proposed by the Government.



    The National Defense Ministry received 2% of the GDP according to the commitment Romania made to NATO. In 2018 the budget of the Healthcare Ministry will be 4.6% higher than in 2017, with the biggest increase planned for medical staff salary expenses. The budget of the Education Ministry will account for 3% of the GDP in 2018 as against 2.9% at present. The Romanian Intelligence Service will also receive 13% more funds in 2018 than in the previous year. The budgets of the Interior and the Regional Development Ministries were also approved, the latter with amendments.



    The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania proposed an increase in the share from the income tax that is due to the local authorities, given that this tax will drop from 16% to 10% starting on January 1, 2018.