|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| Media Headlines 18/03/2011 |
| (2011-03-18) |
| Last updated: 2011-03-21 16:17 EET |
Nomura, Japan's leading brokerage and economic consultancy agency has managed to irritate Bucharest officials with its predictions about the Romanian economy, writes the daily paper Gandul. In its study entitled “Europe will work, but it needs to strengthen its governance, fix its banks and reform its structural policies”, Nomura says Romania's GDP per capita in 2025 will be lower than Serbia's, which will outstrip it, and even lower than Bulgaria's.
Nomura's experts believe Romanians are more vulnerable to famine and are one of the world's 12 nations most exposed to the threat of a food crisis, despite the fact that Romania ranks 25th in the world in terms of arable land and could theoretically provide food for 130 million people. “The people at Nomura should better look in their own back yard”, the state secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture Adrian Radulescu comments in the paper Gandul. He justifies his criticism of Nomura's predictions by the fact that agriculture is becoming a profitable business in Romania.
“While the cultivation of wheat was a risky business until not long ago, things are different now”, Radulescu says. According to Radulescu, an investment of 450-650 euros in a hectare of wheat yields an estimated production of 1,000 euros. Radulescu admits, however, the vulnerability of Romania's economy, especially the low purchasing power, which would cause the export of most agricultural production.
The daily paper Gandul also carries the opinion of the leader of a food industry trade union federation, Dragos Frumosu, who somewhat tempered the optimism shown by the ministry official. Frumosu agrees that under optimal conditions, namely fine weather, a good price for seeds and fertiliser, and a good quotation of wheat on the international stock exchange, a 500 euro investment can bring about returns of 1,000 euros.
Dragos Frumosu points out, however, that it is very difficult for Romanian farmers to invest, which explains why only half of all arable land in the country is currently under crop, a third of which is owned by foreigners. Even under these circumstances, says Frumosu, the problem is not the availability of food, but its price. If prices grow and incomes drop, that could clearly bring about famine, notes Frumosu. The measures recently made public by the government to support the agricultural sector proves the authorities in Bucharest are not immune to worries over a possible world food crisis.
According to the newspaper Bursa, the government's measures include subsidising diesel fuel and offering lower interest rates on aid loans for flood and disaster relief. Farmers have hailed the government's plans, but couldn’t help noting that agriculture only seemed to become a priority around elections.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
| |
© 1999 - 2011 Copyright Radio Romania International |
|
2025-04-03
Print
Listen again