Radio România Internațional

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  • Romania in the Green Zone

    Romania in the Green Zone

    Against the latest downward trend of
    the infection rate with the novel coronavirus, new relaxation measures have
    come into effect in this country as of May 15th. Outdoor mask
    mandates have been lifted though they remain in place when it comes to crowded
    places like public transportation facilities, supermarkets, meetings, concerts
    and other types of gathering.




    The night curfew has also been lifted
    and restaurants, bars and beer gardens can now stay opened between 5 and 24
    hours. Outdoor sporting facilities are allowed to stage competitions with an
    attendance of 25% of their capacity. But these events can be attended only by
    people who got their vaccine at least 10 days before the event, by people who
    can produce a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours or a rapid antigen
    test not older than 24 hours.




    Cultural events can be attended by a
    maximum of 500 people who must observe certain rules. We together had a
    difficult year. We were all wearing masks and had to keep the social
    distancing. We together got vaccinated and I would like to thank the Romanians
    for their understanding. We have a vaccine rollout in full swing and an
    all-time high of 120 thousand people vaccinated. A rollout that continues as
    the Romanians have understood that the only way out of this pandemic is
    vaccination, Romania’s Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Saturday night while
    attending the pilot-show at the National Theatre in Bucharest. According to
    Citu, new relaxation measures are to be applied as of June 1st,
    provided this downward trend continues.




    On the very first day of this
    much-desired relaxation, the Romanians left in large numbers for seaside and
    mountain resorts, which resulted in a series of traffic jams on the country’s
    main motorways.




    Those who decided to stay at home
    went to barbeques with friends or went for a stroll in parks, which during the
    weekends turned into overcrowded places.




    Authorities in Romania have planned
    another three relaxation stages on June 1st, July 1st and
    August 1st. Restrictions will be gradually lifted but they are conditioned
    by the number of vaccinated people and the infection rate. The vaccination
    targets have been announced by president Iohannis, 5 million by June 1st,
    6 million a month later and 7 million by August 1st.




    Under these conditions, next month
    will be seeing outdoor events with up to 1,000 participants, whereas outdoor
    weddings and other religious services can be attended by 70 people. Indoor
    festivities are limited to 50 people. The number of participants in suchlike
    events is expected to rise gradually starting July and August 1st.


    (bill)

  • January 11, 2021

    January 11, 2021

    COVID-19 A 4th batch of Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine reached Romania on Monday morning. The 150,000 doses were delivered to the airports in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara, and will be taken to the Cantacuzino Institute in Bucharest and in vaccination centres in the country. Since the start of the national vaccination programme over 108,000 people have received the anti-COVID-19 vaccine. Mild and common side effects have been reported in 350 cases. The vaccination programme coordinator, dr. Valeriu Gheorghiţă, said the authorities intend to step up the campaign. The second stage, covering the elderly and chronic patients, is set to begin on January 15. Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Romania since the onset of the pandemic is over 673,000, with the total death toll over 16,700. Over 1,000 patients are currently in intensive care, and nearly 600,000 patients have recovered so far.



    PANDEMIC A team of World Health Organisation experts in charge with investigating the coronavirus origins and expected to arrive in China last week, will begin its mission on Thursday, the Chinese health ministry announced on Monday, according to France Presse and Reuters. This has been a sensitive issue to Beijing, which seeks to control the origin story of the pandemic that killed more than 1.9 million people worldwide, AFP reports. Originally scheduled for last week, the mission was cancelled at the last moment. The green light comes exactly 1 year after the first coronavirus death was reported in Chinas Wuhan. Nearly 91 million people have so far caught the virus, and more than 2-thirds of them have recovered.



    SCHOOLS Romanian students today resumed online classes after the winter holiday. Three weeks of online classes will be followed by one-week break before the second half of the academic year. The education ministry is to decide by the end of the month whether the second school semester, beginning on February 8, will see children back into schools. The National Student Council has requested decentralised decisions in this respect, so that schools may be reopened in areas with infection rates below 3 per thousand. The education minister Sorin Câmpeanu said in a recent meeting with relevant trade unions and teacher, student and parent associations, that it all depended on the latest COVID-19 developments, and that schools and kindergartens would most likely be reopened in stages depending on the local infection rate. Sorin Cîmpeanu also said that students and teachers health is important, but that covering the school curricula, especially for the students who have national exams scheduled this year, must also be taken into account.



    DEFICIT Romanias trade balance deficit deepened by some 910 million euros in the first 11 months of 2020 compared to the previous year, to 16.4 billion euros, according to data released on Monday by the National Statistics Institute. Between January 1 and November 30, 2020, exports totalled 57 billion euros and imports 73.5 billion. Compared to the corresponding period of 2019, exports dropped by 11%, and imports by nearly 8%.



    US In the US, the Democrats plan a vote in the House of Representatives on Monday to request vice-president Mike Pence to take steps to remove the outgoing president Donald Trump, using the 25th Amendment in the US Constitution and declaring Trump incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office. Should this fail, the Democrats could move on to impeach Trump for inciting last weeks Capitol riots. Trump would be the first president in US history subject to impeachment procedures twice. His term in office ends on January 20, but the impeachment procedure may continue in the Senate even after Donald Trump leaves the White House.



    SPORTS The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu Monday won 6-4, 6-3 against Spains Lara Arruabarrena, in the Dubai qualifying draw for the Australian Open, due to take place between February 8 and 21. Also on Monday the Romanians Laura Paar and Monica Niculescu lost their qualifying matches. Irina Bara and Gabriela Talabă also lost the qualifiers on Sunday. Five Romanian players already have a spot in the Australian Open main draw: Simona Halep (2 WTA), Patricia Ţig (56 WTA), Sorana Cîrstea (71 WTA), Irina Begu (78 WTA) and Ana Bogdan (92 WTA). In the mens singles, Marius Copil is playing today in the qualifying round in Doha, Qatar. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • March 3, 2020

    March 3, 2020

    HEARINGS The ministers nominated in PM designate Florin Cîţus cabinet are interviewed by the specialised parliamentary committees today, on Wednesday and Thursday, and the day of the investiture vote is to be chosen early next week. The only change compared to the Ludovic Orban Government is at the finance ministry, where former minister Cîţu has been replaced with Lucian Ovidiu Heiuş. The president of Save Romania Union, Dan Barna, says the Liberals have not asked explicitly for support for the new cabinet. The leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, Kelemen Hunor, says that no decision has been made yet as to endorsing the new government or not. Pro Romania MPs will attend the parliamentary sitting, but will vote against the cabinet, party leader Victor Ponta announced. The Social Democrats and ALDE were the only parties with which the PM designate has not discussed. The Peoples Movement Party decided to vote in favour of the Cîţu Cabinet. The latters nomination by president Klaus Iohannis came after the Constitutional Court found it unconstitutional for the president to designate the interim PM Ludovic Orban to form a new cabinet after being dismissed by Parliament through a no-confidence vote.



    COVID-19 In Romania, 42 people are in quarantine centres and over 9,400 are under home monitoring, the Strategic Communication Group announced on Tuesday. So far 3 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Romania, one of whom has recovered and the other 2 are hospitalised and in a good state. Meanwhile, the National Emergency Committee has introduced strict quarantine rules for the people returning home from risk areas. The new coronavirus is now spreading a lot more quickly outside China than in the source country. Around 91,000 cases have been confirmed in over 70 countries worldwide. Of these, 48,000 patients recovered and over 3,100 died. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced they are ready to provide help, including emergency funds, for member states to tackle the difficulties caused by the quickly spreading epidemic.



    VACCINATION The healthcare committee in the Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted the introduction of an amendment making immunisation mandatory. The Chamber of Deputies is to cast the decisive vote on the bill. Representatives of the Parents Alliance, of Pro Consumers Association and of the “Informed Decisions Association protested the current form of the bill, opposing the idea of compulsory vaccination. They believe each citizen must have the right to decide as concerns their own body. On the other hand, an association called Mothers for Mothers warns that vaccination saves lives and the body of scientific evidence in this respect goes back over a century.



    INTERIOR MINISTRY The interim interior minister Marcel Vela has today presented the institutions annual report, and said in 2019 the work load of interior ministry staff was higher than in the previous year. Marcel Vela explained that 27 counties and the capital city Bucharest reported over 4% rises in street crime and crimes against persons and property. “The presidential election was well organised, with 30% fewer incidents in the first round and 54.18% fewer incidents in the second round than in 2014, Marcel Vela added. The National Police Union organised a protest concurrently with the meeting at the ministry headquarters. They demand the implementation of current regulations regarding salaries, and the payment of overdue benefits for the last 3 years.



    UNEMPLOYMENT The January unemployment rate in Romania was 3.9%, down 0.1% since December, the National Statistics Institute announced in Tuesday. According to the institution, the estimated number of unemployed people in January was 350,000, which is lower than both the previous month and the corresponding month of 2019. Statistics also indicate that in the first month of the year the unemployment rate among men was 1% higher than among women.



    ISRAEL The Israeli PM Beniamin Netanyahu claimed victory in the 3rd election within a year, held on Monday. With 90% of the votes counted, Netanyahus right-wing party Likud secured 35 out of the 120 seats in Parliament, as against 32 for Kahol Lavan, led by his challenger Benny Gantz. None of them however has the required majority to form a government. Netanyahu tried to secure his re-election while facing a corruption trial. In his address, Netanyahu promised to put an end to the Iranian nuclear threat, to build peace with moderate Arab countries, economic reforms, a defence pact with the USA, and also spoke about his proposal to annex settlements in the West Bank.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Government resorts to exceptional procedure to pass 3 bills

    Government resorts to exceptional procedure to pass 3 bills

    Tuesdays Government meeting was, for the first time in history, held in 2 sittings, with an intermission in the afternoon to allow PM Ludovic Orban and some of his Cabinet members to take part in a roundtable organised by trade unions with respect to next years economic prospects. Later in the day, the Government resumed its meeting, with a first reading of a bill for which the Cabinet is to request Parliaments confidence within 10 days.



    The bill concerns the repeal of provisions in the infamous Order 114, dubbed the “greed tax order, under which a year ago the Social Democratic cabinet had introduced additional taxes for banks and ceilings on electricity prices for households. Unhappy with the consequences of that order, the Liberals are now seeking to cancel it. In the talks with business people ahead of the Government meeting, PM Ludovic Orban spoke about the provisions to be cancelled:



    Ludovic Orban: “We want to repeal the provisions regarding ceilings on the price of electricity for households, as well as the current energy export limitations and the overcharges introduced in the energy sector. We also intend to cancel all the provisions concerning privately-managed pension funds in the public pension system, the financial-banking system, and charges in the communications sector. There are a number of other provisions we have in mind, but facilities for consumers will not be affected.



    All these changes will be discussed with the social partners, prior to being pushed through Parliament. Meanwhile, however, the Government initiated an extraordinary procedure, requesting Parliaments confidence on 3 other pieces of legislation: a bill amending the justice laws, the repeal of Order 51/2019 on county transportation, and a bill setting public budget ceilings.



    Back when they were in Opposition, the Liberals constantly criticised the justice laws, which they now want amended to the effect of deferring the early retirement of magistrates, the extension of the seniority requirement for entry-level magistrates from 2 to 4 years and the increase in the membership of judge panels from 2 to 3. The Orban Cabinet, which is now trying to have these provisions deferred, may seek to fully repeal them next year.



    Secondly, the Government wants to define in-county transportation as a public service subordinated to local authorities, so as to make sure that transport companies provide free school transport for children.



    Last, but not least, the Orban Cabinet will take responsibility before Parliament for a bill setting the public budget ceilings on which the 2020 state budget law will be based. Posted for public review on the home page of the Finance Ministry, the bill stipulates a budget deficit of maximum 3.6% of GDP, and a 9.7% cap on personnel expenditure. Next years public budget will also rely on an expected 4% economic growth rate.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Credite mai ieftine după reducerea indicelui ROBOR

    Credite mai ieftine după reducerea indicelui ROBOR

    Indicele de dobândă Robor cu scadenţă la trei luni îşi continuă traiectoria descendentă din 2015, la începutul acestei săptămâni valoarea acestuia fiind stabilită la un minim istoric de 0,79% – aproape jumătate din valoarea de acum un an. Evoluţia sa este importantă pentru cei care au credite contractate în moneda naţională, deoarece dobânda acestor împrumuturi se calculează ca sumă între Robor şi o marjă fixă a băncii.



    La fel de importantă este şi pentru cei care intenţionează să acceseze un credit. Adrian Vasilescu, consilier de strategie la Banca Naţională a României, aminteşte că impactul pozitiv asupra costurilor la creditele în lei a fost vizibil pe tot parcursul anului trecut, însă atrage atenţia asupra pericolului descurajării economisirii: Aici este o problemă sensibilă şi importantă. Creditele, în timp ce se ieftinesc, să nu determine o ieftinire prea puternică a dobânzii la depozite. Cred că băncile vor avea tăria să nu coboare prea mult dobânzile la depozite şi să descurajeze astfel economisirea.”



    Cei care au în vedere achiziţionarea unei locuinţe prin credit sunt probabil cei mai atenţi la evoluţiile de pe piaţa bancară, cu atât mai mult cu cât programul prima casă”, prin care statul sprijină cumpărarea primei locuinţe, este în pericol în urma unei alte iniţiative legislative. Gândită ca un ajutor pentru românii care nu-şi mai pot achita ratele la casă, legea dării în plată” presupune că un debitor poate preda în orice moment cheile locuinţei către bancă fără ca ulterior creditorul să îl mai poată urmări până la stingerea datoriei. Aplicarea legii dării în plată” ar putea duce la condiţii mai restrictive de acordare a creditelor, spun, însă, reprezentanţii băncilor.



    Directorul de comunicare al Consiliului Patronatului Bancar, Bogdan Preda, explică: Noi am spus că acest proiect de lege trebuie să-i aibă în vedere pe cei care nu mai pot cu adevărat să-şi mai plătească creditele, nu pe cei care nu mai vor. Dacă vom constata că după ce s-a aprobat o asemenea lege, cum este ea amendată acum, cei care vor da în plată vor fi, de fapt, persoane cu mult mai multe imobile, cărora nu le mai convine de fapt, nu că nu mai pot plăti investiţia pe care au făcut-o la un moment dat şi pentru că persoanele acestea fizice cu un apartament vor fi ultimele care vor da aceste apartamente în plată.”



    Dacă va fi adoptată, legea dării în plată” — ajunsă în Senat, după ce preşedintele Klaus Iohannis a retrimis proiectul în parlament, în decembrie, anul trecut – se va aplica persoanelor fizice aflate în imposibilitatea de a-şi mai plăti ratele, fără ca în această categorie să intre dezvoltatorii de afaceri imobiliare.

  • Das Problem der Kredite in Schweizer Franken bleibt ungelöst

    Das Problem der Kredite in Schweizer Franken bleibt ungelöst

    Tausende Rumänen, die Kredite in Schweizer Franken zurück zahlen müssen, sind unzufrieden und haben wieder auf den Stra‎ßen von Bukarest und weiteren rumänischen Städten protestiert. Sie fordern die Regierung auf, ein Gesetz zu erlassen, um die Konversion der Kredite zum historischen Wechselkurs plus 20 % zu erzwingen. Die Verbraucherschutzbehörde plädiert für eine Lösung durch die sowohl die Kunden, als auch die Banken die Risiken gleicherma‎ßen übernehmen. Unterdessen werden immer mehr Beschwerden bei der Behörde eingereicht.



    Der Vorsitzende der Verbraucherschutzbehörde Marius Dunca dazu:



    Man spricht immer über das Risiko, das die Banken annehmen, ihre mögliche Insolvenz, unterschiedliche Argumente, die die Vorsorge für Banken betreffen. In diesem Sinne, richte ich mich öffentlich an alle Banken, die in der Krise des Schweizer Franken verwickelt sind und frage: welche konkrete Lösungen bieten sie den Kunden, die ihre Kreditraten nicht mehr zahlen können und die bis Beginn der Krise gute Zahler waren? Und wir sprechen hier von Lösungen für die ganze Kreditierungsperiode und keine kurzfristigen Lösungen.”




    In einer Sendung bei einem privaten Fernsehsender erklärte der rumänische Finanzminister Darius Valcov, er erwarte eine bedeutsamere Intervention der Zentralbank und der Kommerzbanken.



    Ich wünsche mir, dass sich die Nationalbank Rumäniens mehr impliziert. Sie verfügt, meiner Meinung nach, über alle notwendigen Instrumente. Ich glaube nicht an der Lösung, den Kurs auf einem historischen Niveau durch einen Regierungserlass oder durch ein Gesetz im Rumänische Parlament festzulegen. Jede Person, die ein bisschen Wirtschaft kennt, versteht welches Risiko Rumänien in diesem Fall eingehen würde.”




    Darius Vâlcov erklärte, die Rate soll in den ersten zwei Jahren um bis 35 % sinken. In den kommenden Jahren soll ein monatlicher Abzug vom Einkommenseuer von bis 240 Lei (circa 55 Euro) umgesetzt werden. Das notwendige Geld soll vom Staatsbuget kommen. Die Rumänische Notenbank und die Kommerzbanken plädieren für individuelle Lösungen und erwähnen Verluste, die schwer oder gar nicht gedeckt werden können. Mehr als 75.000 physische Personen haben von 14 Kreditinstitutionen Kredite in Schweizer Franken aufgenommen.

  • Impactul valorizării francului elveţian

    Impactul valorizării francului elveţian

    Băncile, oamenii de afaceri, dar şi clasa politică din România se află în căutarea unor soluţii pentru a depaşi situaţia creată după valorizarea francului elveţian, odată cu decizia Băncii Naţionale a Elveţiei de liberalizare a cursului. Peste 75.000 de români au credite în această monedă şi vor trebui sa plătească rate mult mai mari.



    Deputaţii din Comisia pentru buget-finanţe i-au chemat la masa dialogului pe reprezentanţii mediului bancar şi pe cei ai clienţilor cu credite în franci elveţieni. Sunt vehiculate mai multe propuneri, între care conversia în lei a creditelor, la un curs mai apropiat de cel la care au fost încheiate majoritatea contractelor, sau prelungirea perioadei de rambursare a creditelor. Bancherii atrag, însă, atenţia că un act normativ care să le impună acest lucru ar fi incorect şi ar aduce unele bănci aproape de faliment. Valorizarea francului elveţian are consecinţe pe tot continentul, unde fiecare stat încearcă să rezolve criza în mod particular. În Ungaria, de exemplu, unde francul elveţian a fost convertit rapid, se tratează diferit creditele în franci elveţieni luate pentru achiziţia de locuinţe şi cele pentru maşini sau alte nevoi personale.



    Premierul României, Victor Ponta crede, totuşi, că această metodă nu poate fi aplicată în România. Victor Ponta: ‘Nu cred în soluţia din Ungaria, în care s-a convertit, cu forţa, într-o zi. Cred într-o obligaţie pentru bănci de a informa mai bine, cred într-o obligaţie a băncilor de a suporta o parte din pierderi şi cred că, la un moment dat, trebuie să găsim un sistem prin care omul să citească de trei ori un contract de imprumut înainte să-l semneze, că după aceea e greu să-l mai ajuţi, când a ajuns la necaz.’



    Nici preşedintele Senatului României, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu nu vede posibilă o intervenţie din partea guvernului sau a parlamentului, care să salveze situaţia celor care au credite în franci elveţieni. Fost om de afaceri, el spune că, într-o economie de piaţă, parlamentul nu are mijloacele necesare pentru a controla preţurile, dobânzile şi ratele de schimb.



    Pe de altă parte, Banca Centrală Europeană a anunţat, joi, un plan de achiziţii masive de obligaţiuni de stat, în valoare de peste o mie de miliarde de euro, pentru a revigora economiile din spaţiul monedei unice. Măsura a generat controverse printre analiştii financiari iar moneda euro s-a depreciat pana la minimul ultimilor 11 ani faţă de dolar. Decizia aduce, însă, pentru moment, mai multă speranţă în viitorul economiilor europene.

  • Misiune FMI în România

    Misiune FMI în România

    Priorităţile reformelor economice şi cadrul legislativ cu impact asupra economiei au fost subiectele dominante ale discuţiilor pe care reprezentanţii instituţiilor internaţionale creditoare le-au avut la Bucureşti, în ultimele două săptămâni, cu preşedintele şi premierul, cu reprezentanţi ai partidelor politice, ai sindicatelor, ai asociaţiilor oamenilor de afaceri, ai băncilor şi ai organizaţiilor societăţii civile.



    Vizita a fost una de evaluare a acordului de tip preventiv pe care boardul FMI l-a acordat României toamna trecută — de aproximativ două miliarde de euro, pentru o perioadă de doi ani – la care se adaugă alte două miliarde de euro de la Comisia Europeană. La finalul discuţiilor, experţii financiari internaţionali au prezentat concluziile şi au făcut şi câteva recomandări Bucureştiului, între acestea – să absoarbă cât mai multe fonduri de la UE şi să găsească soluţii pentru creşterea consumului.



    FMI estimează pentru acest an o creştere economică de 2,2% pentru România, după un avans de 2,8% înregistrat anul trecut – cea mai mare creştere economică de la începutul crizei. Anul agricol bun şi exporturile se numără între factorii care au determinat această creştere, la care se adaugă faptul că importurile mai scăzute din energie au dus la un deficit de cont curent mai mic.



    Bugetul pentru 2014 este unul al investiţiilor, iar una dintre priorităţi este legată de dezvoltarea infrastructurii, fapt apreciat de reprezentanţii instituţiilor financiare. Optimismul acestora se leagă şi de dobânzile scăzute la care Bucureştiul se împrumută, aflate la niveluri istorice, dar şi de faptul că România poate deveni exportator de energie, ceea ce ar putea duce şi la crearea de noi locuri de muncă.



    S-a găsit o soluţie şi pentru una dintre problemele de divergenţă între preşedintele Traian Băsescu şi guvernul condus de Victor Ponta — cea legată de mărirea accizei la carburanţi. Este vorba de o creştere cu 7 eurocenţi, prevăzută pentru începutul acestui an şi amânată cu trei luni în urma condiţionării formulate de şeful statului pentru a semna bugetul de stat pe 2014. Măsura nu apare în scrisoarea de intenţie către FMI, însă ea va fi aplicată de la 1 aprilie atât la benzină, cât şi la motorină.



    Şeful executivului a mai anunţat că guvernul are acordul partenerilor internaţionali pentru două decizii cu impact în economie. Prima măsură este adresată celor care au credite. Astfel, pensionarii sau salariaţii cu un venit lunar de cel mult 1.610 lei (circa 360 de euro) şi fără restanţe mai vechi de 90 de zile vor putea să beneficieze de o înjumătăţire a ratei pe o perioadă de doi ani. Reducerea nu poate depăşi însă 500 de lei (circa 110 euro) lunar. O a doua măsură este adresată sectorului privat şi va fi aplicată de la 1 iulie. În acest caz, pentru firmele care creează cel puţin 20 de locuri de muncă, statul va plăti jumătate din valoarea totală a cheltuielii salariale.