DAY
Roman-Catholics and protestant believers are this Sunday celebrating Easter, whereas
the Orthodox and Greek-Catholic believers are celebrating Palm Sunday. Orthodox
believers on Saturday attended various religious processions dedicated to Jesus
Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which also marks the beginning of the last
week of Lent, also known as the Passion Week, before Easter, which they
celebrate on April 24th. Saturday was also the first day of Jewish
Holiday of Passover, which celebrates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery
in Egypt.
RATING The trust signal conveyed by the Romanian government to foreign
investors was also confirmed by the rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and
Fitch, the Executive in Bucharest announced on Saturday. Growth prospects are
underpinned by the unprecedented volume of national and EU funds, which are to
be pumped into the main areas of the Romanian economy, such as industry,
agriculture, energy, environment, digitization and also by the government
development policies, the Executive went on to say. Romania’s Finance Minister Adrian
Câciu hailed a recent decision by the financial rating agency Standard &
Poor’s to reconfirm Romania’s Sovereign credit rating to ‘BBB minus’ with
stable outlook. ‘This is another proof that the national policies of funding
the economy were right’ Câciu says. According to Standard & Poor’s, Romania’s
rating is underpinned by EU membership and international capital flows. At the
same time the risks posed by the war in Ukraine are diminished by the prospects
of absorbing a major volume of EU funds as well as by the low energy dependence
on imports of natural gas and oil from Russia. However, the agency has significantly
dropped the country’s growth estimates down to 2.1% and has increased estimates
regarding the inflation rate, which in 2022 is expected to go up to 9% as
compared to 6% forecast in December. Another major rating agency Fitch last
week confirmed Romania’s rating at ‘BBB minus’, with negative outlook, the last
notch in the investment-grade category.
BNR Romania’s
Central Bank (BNR) expects the country’s inflation rate to increase in the
following months against the intitial forecasts. So, Romania’s inflation rate is
going to exceed the level of 11.2% forecast in June. The phenomenon was caused
by the latest price hikes in fuel and processed food against the war in Ukraine
and the international sanctions imposed on Russia. In another development,
although pressure for pay rises might be felt, at least in the sectors facing a
shortage of qualified personnel, substantial pay rises are very unlikely to
happen in the near future. We recall the annual inflation rate went up to
10.15% in March from 8.5% in February reaching the highest level in the past 18
years.
INVICTUS A team made up of 20
servicemen of the Romanian army, who got wounded in various operation theatres
around the world are for a week participating in the Invictus Games underway
this year in the Hague. They are competing in six sporting events, such as
archery, athletics, rowing, powerlifting, cycling, swimming and sitting
volleyball. According to the Defence Ministry in Bucharest, these games are
designed to promote the respect and empathy for the sacrifice and trauma
suffered by the wounded soldiers whose involvement in these activities is an
opportunity for social re-integration and regaining self-confidence. This has
been the Romanians’ third participation in the Invictus Games after those in
Toronto, in 2017 and Sydney, a year later. The opening ceremonies in the Hague
have also been attended by Romania’s Defence Minister Vasile Dincu.
TENNIS Romanian tennis player Irina Bara on Friday qualified for the
semifinals of the ITF tournament in Palm Harbor, Florida after a 6-3, 6-4 win
against Grace Min of the USA. Bara has also qualified for the doubles finals
together with Italian Lucrezia Stefanini after a 6-3, 6-1 win against Kayla Day
and Ellie Douglas of the USA.
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