Salary bill. The Chamber of Deputies has approved the new public sector salary bill. While the first stage of the proposed salary increase was to begin in July, the latest version of the bill provides for a 25% increase in all state sector gross salaries beginning on the 1st of January 2018. Teachers and doctors, who were promised further increases, will see their salaries go up again on the 1st of March next year.
US visit. Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, who is on a
working visit to the US, is today attending a talk in Washington on the
bilateral Strategic Partnership signed 20 years ago. Also today, he will meet
representatives of the Romanian community in the US. On Thursday, Iohannis had
talks with Mike Pompeo, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency,
telling him he appreciated the excellent collaboration between the Romanian and
American special services. The president said that Romania, including its
intelligence services, understands it must act as a provider of security at
international level. On Friday, president Iohannis is to meet his counterpart
Donald Trump. He is the first head of state from Central and Eastern Europe to
be received by the US president since the latter’s inauguration.
Nuclear Energy Agency. Romania
will join today the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD). The ceremony is held in Paris in the presence of prime minister Sorin
Grindeanu and the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria. On Thursday, the Romanian prime minister will meet his
French counterpart Edouard Philippe. A traditionally
Francophone and Francophile country, Romania signed a strategic partnership
with France in 2008. Grindeanu is accompanied in Paris by his finance minister
Viorel Stefan, who is today attending the signing of an international
convention in the fiscal area endorsed by more than 60 states. The main goal of
this convention is to counteract the practices employed by international
companies to transfer their profits to countries with low taxation or tax
havens, which leads to a reduction in state budget revenues.
Economic growth. The National Institute for Statistics
has confirmed that Romania’s economy has grown by 5.7% in the first quarter of
the year. The biggest contribution to the growth came from consumption, the IT
sector, services, trade and industry. Statistical figures show that industry,
which has become a key sector and contributed almost a quarter to the GDP, has
grown by 6.7% compared with the same period last year. The construction sector
and the financial system have seen a decrease. In 2017, the government is
counting on a 5.2% economic growth rate, while international financial
institutions put this figure at 4 to 4.5% of the GDP.
UK elections. Today is the last day of the election
campaign for the early parliamentary elections in the UK. One of the main
themes at this stage of the campaign is security, given the recent terrorist
attacks in London and Manchester. The Conservative prime minister Theresa May
and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbin have suspended their campaigning twice in
respect of the victims. Yesterday, Theresa May said she wanted longer prison
sentences for the persons committed of terrorist actions and increased powers
to restrict the suspects’ actions.
Iran attacks. At
least seven people were killed today in Tehran in terrorist attacks targeting
the Parliament building and the Mausoleum of ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder
of the Islamic
Republic of Iran. The Iranian authorities say several attackers entered
Parliament, one of whom was killed, while the other two arrested. Two suicide
attacks were carried out at the Mausoleum, which is located 20 km from the
Parliament headquarters.
Roland Garros. World no. 4 Simona Halep of
Romania today faces world no. 6 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinals
at Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. If she wins,
Halep will meet either world no. 3 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic or world
no. 27 Caroline Garcia of France. In the women’s doubles, two more Romanian
players are vying for a place in the semifinals. Irina Begu and her doubles
partner, the Chinese player Saisai Zheng face the all-Australian pair Ashleigh Barty and
Casey Dellacqua, while Raluca Olaru and Olga Savchuk from Ukraine play against
the Taiwanese-Swiss pair Yung-Jan Chan and Martina Hingis.