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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 4-10/08/08 |
| (2008-08-08) |
| Last updated: 2008-08-13 17:07 EET |
The entire world has its eyes riveted on the top international sporting event, the Olympic Games which began on August the 8th at 8.08 hours, Beijing’s time; digit 8 keeps repeating as it is considered of good omen by the Chinese. The ceremony, was attended, among other officials and celebrities from various countries, by Romanian president Traian Basescu. The current 29th edition of the Olympic Games brings together over 10 thousand athletes from 205 countries. Romania is also present with a delegation consisting of 102 athletes who will participate in 15 of all 28 disciplines. The total number of medals obtained by the Romanian athletes in all the 18 summer Olympics stands at 284, of which 82 are gold, 88 silver and 114 bronze. President Basescu took advantage of this opportunity and had a round of talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao.
Early this week Romania was hit by a new heat wave, coming right after last week’s flooding which devastated its northern and north-eastern regions. The ravaging waters left five dead and 20,000 people stranded, 5600 houses partially or utterly destroyed. Relief operations are underway while the authorities are assessing the damage and setting their priorities: to restore the infrastructure and damaged houses, and to supply the affected localities with electric power and drinking water.
The National Bank of Romania has rectified the inflation rate forecast for 2008, raising it from 6 up to 6.6%. The move comes after the rate reached 9.1 - 9.2 % in July. Here is Mugur Isarescu, governor of the National Bank with more about the causes of the rising inflation:
“First there is a clear surplus demand. The economic growth went over the potential, the economy is overheated, the labour force is increasingly scarce and the financial resource demand is also going through the roof. We are also facing an exceeding demand in terms of material resources. So a 6.6 % inflation forecast for the end of this year has been based on the crude price of 140 dollars per barrel. If the sluggish US economic growth - a phenomenon currently confronting economies in Europe too – tempers the crude oil demand, this time, we might be wrong, in that we were more pessimistic than we should have been.”
According to the central bank’s governor, after the peak in July, inflation will go on a downward trend until December. Isarescu believes that in 2008 Romania will see an economic growth of 8-9%, while the National Statistics Institute indicates an economic growth of 8.2 % in the first three months of the year; this is the most significant growth since 1990.
As a former long haul captain and transport minister under five governments, Romania’s president Traian Basescu has voiced discontent with the inefficient exploitation of the Danube. According to him, only 12 percent of this river’s transport potential is used in spite of being the cheapest means of transportation. For this reason, president Basescu has decided to pinpoint some of the advantages this sector offers while talking to an economic mission aimed at assessing the river’s market opportunities and economic potential that had embarked on a cruise on the Danube. Basescu underlined the massive investment needed by the Romanian ports on the Danube in order to become operational at international standards, and also their business potential in terms of transportation, services and tourism. He said that Romania, a country where the river covers 1075 kilometers, would benefit from 250 million euros worth of funds in the following five years in order to improve its navigation infrastructure. Tourism is also a field propitious for investment, as there are a lot of spas, resorts, localities and historical sites on the Romanian bank of the Danube.
Famous Russian anti-communist writer and campaigner Alexandr Solzhenitsyn was posthumously awarded the ‘Star of Romania’ National Order by president Traian Basescu. Author of “The Gulag Archipelago”, Solzhenitsyn was awarded this medal for his courage and dignity and for being one of the greatest consciences of the 20th century’s Russia, as well as for his contribution to developing world literature. Several NGOs in Romania have suggested that the name of this great Russian writer, who died of a heart failure on Monday at the age of 89, be given to a street in Bucharest. Solzhenitsyn was buried at the Donskoy monastery in Moscow.
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2025-04-03
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