Radio România Internațional

Tag: surplus

  • Key Interest Rate stays at 7%

    Key Interest Rate stays at 7%

    Romania’s Central Bank has kept the
    key interest rate at 7% this year, a measure taken at a time when the latest
    data released shows a lower economic growth in the last three months of 2023.
    The interest rates at which the commercial banks can borrow from the central
    bank have also been maintained as well as those they have when they keep their
    deposits in the Central Bank. The key interest rate hasn’t changed since
    January last year, when it went from 6.75 to 7%.

    The Central Bank’s present
    forecast shows a rise in the annual inflation rate at the beginning of the year
    under the impact of the introduction and rising of indirect taxes and duties.
    After this the inflation rate is expected to come back to a downward trend at a
    slower pace though as compared to both 2023 and the previous forecasts. According
    to central bank experts, future fiscal and income policies, the effects of the
    war in Ukraine and the Middle East conflict as well as the developments in
    Europe, particularly in Germany, represent other uncertainties and even risks
    concerning the inflation rate. In another development the current account of
    the balance of payment has registered a deficit of nearly 22.7 billion euros,
    3.3 billion less than that registered in 2022, says data released by the Central
    Bank. This reduction was mainly due to
    the fact that the balance of goods registered a deficit lower by nearly 3
    billion Euros while the balance of services saw a surplus of more than 204
    million. Here is financial analyst Adrian Codirlasu with more.




    Adrian Codirlasu: If we take the component of the current
    account deficit we see that on the goods side imports went down a little bit,
    actually the prices of imported goods went down. For instance the prices of the
    imported goods based on intensive energy consumption went down as energy prices
    also decreased. In terms of services, the biggest rise was seen in the
    transport sector. Against the background of the war in Ukraine, we are helping this
    country to export its products and we see that we are also getting profit from
    this activity. We have surplus in the service sector but the highest
    contribution to this surplus came from the transport section.


    Direct foreign investment in Romania last year
    stood at nearly 6.6 billion Euros as compared to 10 billion in 2022. According
    to the Central Bank, in 2022, the total foreign debt rose by nearly 25 billion Euros
    up to roughly 169 billion.

    (bill)

  • Romania sells Covid vaccine surplus

    Romania sells Covid vaccine surplus


    At a time when the Romanians interest in vaccination against the novel coronavirus has dropped significantly, Romania must make a decision regarding the doses of vaccine which have not been used and are getting closer to expiration date.



    In this context, PM Florin Cîţu announced that Romania will sell anti-Covid vaccine to several countries, with Denmark set to receive around one million doses, and that the country will also donate many of the doses. The PM argues that the countrys main goal, bringing the pandemic under control, has been achieved, even though the frequently boasted vaccination targets have not been reached.



    Moreover, Romania suspended some of the vaccine deliveries due in June, and it is next to receive some 2.6 million doses of the over 7.1 million scheduled for this month. According to the state secretary in the Health Ministry Andrei Baciu, these include batches of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines. Johnson&Johnson vaccine deliveries are not suspected at this time.



    So far Romania has received a combined 15 million doses of COVID vaccine. “From the very beginning, the European Commission has signed these contracts with several producers, for a number of doses larger than the originally estimated eligible population. A possible vaccine surplus has been taken into account, which is precisely why each contract includes a provision allowing for the donation or re-sale of the surplus vaccine doses, Andrei Baciu said.



    He added the situation is not uncommon in all EU countries. “These are the terms agreed by the European Commission with the producers, precisely in order to ensure the EU citizens quick and easy access to vaccine. And at this point, not only in Romania but at EU level, there is a surplus of vaccine doses, Andrei Baciu explained.



    According to him, until the central donation or re-sale mechanisms are in place, Romania has initiated vaccine donations to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova.



    In turn, the head of Romanias vaccination programme, Valeriu Gheorghiță, announced that Romania has around 35,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses due to expire at the end of the month, and they will most likely be destroyed. He promised that Romania is not facing problems in terms of storing the vaccine.



    Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to slow down across the country, and authorities argue this is due to vaccination. Since the start of the vaccine rollout, on 27 December 2020, around 4.7 million people have received the vaccine, most of them having received both doses. The authorities were targeting 5 million people immunised by 1 June. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • La Roumanie vend le surplus de vaccins anti-Covid

    La Roumanie vend le surplus de vaccins anti-Covid

    À un
    moment où l’adhésion vaccinale de sa population est en forte chute, la Roumanie
    doit décider ce qu’elle fera des doses de vaccin inutilisées ou qui approchent
    la fin de la période de validité. Le premier ministre Florin Cîţu a annoncé que
    Bucarest allait faire don ou revendre des vaccins anti-Covid à plusieurs pays,
    dont, par exemple, le Danemark, qui devrait recevoir environ un million de
    doses. Selon le chef du gouvernement, le principal but, celui de supprimer la pandémie,
    a été réalisé, même si les cibles de vaccination annoncées n’ont pas été
    atteintes. La Roumanie a également demandé la suspension de la livraison de
    doses de vaccin anti-COVID au mois de juin, quand elle ne recevra qu’environ 2,6
    millions de doses sur les plus de 7,1 millions programmés.

    Le Secrétaire d’État
    au ministère de la santé, Andrei Baciu, a précisé qu’il s’agissait de tranches
    des vaccins produits par Pfizer/BionTech, Moderna et AstraZeneca. Quant à celui
    produit par les laboratoires Johnson&Johnson, la réception des doses et des
    tranches hebdomadaires n’est pas suspendue pour l’instant. La Roumanie s’est
    fait livrer, jusqu’à présent, au total environ 15 millions de doses de vaccin
    anti-COVID. M. Baciu a aussi précisé que la Commission européenne avait, dès le
    début, signé des contrats avec plusieurs compagnies, achetant un nombre de
    doses supérieur à celui de la population éligible estimée initialement, et
    prenant en compte l’éventualité d’un surplus. C’est la raison pour laquelle la
    possibilité de faire don ou de revendre cet éventuel surplus est mentionnée
    dans chacun de ces contrats. Andrei Baciu a ajouté qu’une telle situation existait
    dans tous les États européens, la CE ayant négocié ces conditions avec les
    compagnies productrices, justement pour assurer un accès large et rapide aux
    vaccins. Selon le Secrétaire d’État au ministère de la santé de Bucarest, en
    attendant la mise en œuvre des mécanismes de don ou de revente, la Roumanie a
    commencé à faire don de son surplus de doses de vaccin à la République de Moldova
    roumanophone voisine.

    Par ailleurs, le coordonnateur de la campagne de
    vaccination, Valeriu Gheorghiță, a annoncé que la Roumanie détenait quelque 35 000
    doses de vaccin AstraZeneca, dont la validité expire à la fin de ce mois et qui
    seront très probablement détruites. Il a aussi confirmé que la Roumanie ne
    rencontrait pas de difficultés de stockage des vaccins. La pandémie de COVID-19
    continue à s’essouffler sur l’ensemble de la Roumanie, une évolution due, selon
    les autorités, à la vaccination de la population. Quelque 4,7 millions de
    personnes ont été immunisées, dont la majorité complètement, depuis le début de
    la campagne nationale, le 27 décembre 2020. Les autorités responsables s’étaient
    fixé une cible de 5 millions de vaccinés jusqu’au 1er juin. (Trad. Ileana
    Ţăroi)

  • January 12, 2021 UPDATE

    January 12, 2021 UPDATE

    PRESIDENCY Reforms can no longer be put off, 2021 is an important year for Romanias development, the year when we must lay the foundations of a healthy resetting of our society, president Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday in his first press conference this year. He emphasized that the COVID-19 epidemic must be curbed and all economic sectors need a restart. According to the president, the resetting of the state must begin this year, and must focus on citizens access to public services and information, on digitisation and cutting red-tape at all levels. If we are to move on at full speed, we must end the epidemic, and mass vaccination is the only solution for us to return to normal as soon as possible, Klaus Iohannis added. He said he will get the vaccine on January 15, when the second stage of the national immunisation programme begins.



    COVID-19 The government extended by another 30 days the state of alert in Romania to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as of January 13. The state of alert was declared in May, after a 2-month state of emergency. Current restrictions have not been amended. Ski slopes remain open, but measures will be in place to avoid crowding, which is the main way to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, almost 3,700 new coronavirus cases and 156 new deaths were reported on Tuesday in Romania, which has recorded almost 680,000 cases and 16,881 deaths since the start of the outbreak. 8,783 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, 1,073 of them in intensive care.



    VACCINE PM Florin Cîţu Tuesday endorsed a request for the European Commissions approval of another 8 million doses of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine for Romania, in addition to the 12.7 million already contracted by Bucharest. Cîţu said in a Facebook post that Romania also contracted 3.4 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Also on Tuesday, the coordinator of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme Valeriu Gheorghiţă announced that the online vaccine booking system for the 2nd stage of the programme will be operational as of January 15. In this stage, he explained, 750 vaccination centres will be opened, with a combined 1,700 locations. The 2nd stage covers people over 65, chronic patients, people in care centres and personnel in key sectors. Since the start of Romanias immunization programme on December 27, more than 134,000 people have received the COVID-19 vaccine.



    PROTEST Healthcare trade unions Tuesday picketed prefecture offices in Bucharest and other major cities, to protest a government order freezing salaries and pensions this year. There are also plans to picket the headquarters of the health, labour and finance ministries and Parliament during the latter’s debates of the state budget bill. Trade unions say they are planning to send an open letter to the president and the members of the Romanian Parliament and the European Parliament warning that Romania is the only country in Europe to diminish the incomes of the public sector employees directly involved in the fight against the pandemic.



    CORRUPTION The Prosecutor General of Romania, Gabriela Scutea, Tuesday asked president Klaus Iohannis to green light the criminal prosecution of former prime minister Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, who is accused of bribe taking in 2007 and 2008, during his term in office. Prosecutors say he indirectly received from an Austrian company material benefits worth 800,000 dollars consisting in consultancy services. In exchange, Tăriceanu pushed for the adoption by his cabinet of decisions that benefitted this company. A previous request of the National Anticorruption Directorate, in November 2018, to the same effect, had been dismissed by the Senate in June 2019. Prosecutors are now saying they have additional evidence and new elements have appeared in the case.



    DEFICIT The EU had a 75.6 billion EUR current account surplus (2.2% of GDP) in the 3rd quarter of 2020, according to estimates released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In July – September 2020, 19 EU member countries reported a current account surplus, including Germany (62.9 bn), Italy (25.3 bn), and the Netherlands (17 bn). Eight member states reported current account deficits, with the largest levels in France (-11.4 bn), Romania (-3.9 bn) and Belgium (-2.6 bn).



    VISIT In Kiev on Tuesday Maia Sandu, the new pro-western president of the Republic of Moldova, and her Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the renewal of bilateral relations and emphasised the strategic importance of the cooperation between the 2 countries. This is Maia Sandus first official trip abroad since taking office. According to Radio Chisinau, the 2 presidents discussed the need to improve economic relations in the field of energy, transport and environment protection. The relations between Moldova and Ukraine were strained between 2016 and 2020 during the term of Moldova’s former pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, who was defeated by Maia Sandu in the November elections. The first top level foreign official to be received by Sandu was Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis on 29th December. The two signed a joint declaration aimed at consolidating the bilateral strategic partnership. (tr. A.M. Popescu)