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| The Week in Review |
| (2011-08-05) |
| Last updated: 2011-08-08 12:19 EET |
Good news for Romania at the end of the joint assessment mission of the IMF, the European Commission and the World Bank. This comes upon the mission’s 2nd evaluation of the precautionary agreement Romania has concluded with the international financial bodies.
IMF mission chief Jeffrey Franks pointed out that Romania would continue to report economic growth this year: “Economic activity is picking up gradually and we envisage growth of almost 1.5% in 2011, provided by massive exports and a good agricultural year. In 2012 the rise in the GDP will continue the ascending trend to reach 3.5 to 4%.”
According to the IMF official, the inflation rate has recently dropped and will continue to do so, but by the end of the year, it could soar past the 5% target set by the National Bank of Romania. Carrying on with reforms in the healthcare system, cutting on the state owned companies’ arrears, restructuring and privatizing state owned companies are priority objectives which Romania should assume, Jeffrey Franks added. In March, Romanian authorities decided to extend the agreement with the IMF through a precautionary-type agreement worth 3.5 billions Euros coupled with a loan agreement of 400 million Euros from the World Bank and a preventive support of 1.4 billion Euros from the EU.
The Romanian Government has approved the year’s first budget readjustment, this week. Some ministries received more money mainly for investments and arrears payments. The PM Emil Boc announced an increase in the social security budget, to be able to pay pensions by the end of the year. On the other hand, the Executive has doubled fines for incorrect labeling of foodstuffs and textiles. Companies that do not display product prices will pay fines 25 times higher.
Romanian Healthcare Minister Cseke Atilla has resigned, citing dissatisfaction with the latest budget readjustments. He said he had not been consulted when the rectification was made. In July, Cseke Atilla said the healthcare budget needed an additional 4 billion lei. The PM Emil Boc announced the healthcare budget saw an additional 300 million lei, followed by 150 million lei from the reserve fund. In the coming two weeks the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania will have to appoint a new minister.
Some 1500 postal workers have taken to the streets, in Bucharest, unhappy with salary cuts, poor management and impending layoffs. They threatened to stop work unless the revenues of the Romanian Post increase 20% by the end of the year. The Romanian Post has 36 000 employees. It has recently been announced that 1400 positions will remain vacant and the respective employees will be redistributed to two companies that are to be set up – a bank and an insurance brokerage.
The Romanian government has canceled part of the controversial contract signed in 2003 with American constructor Bechtel, hired to build the Transylvania Motorway. Bechtel was supposed to build 415 kilometers of motorway linking the central Romanian city of Brasov to the western border town of Bors. The contract was initially evaluated at 2.2 billion euros. Over the first 7 years, Romania spent a total of 1.2 billion euros for a 54-km stretch. Bechtel will now only be allowed to conduct works on two sectors and will no longer receive compensation from the state, set to put the other six sectors up for sale. According to Transportation Minister Anca Boagiu, the total cost of the motorway will now be 3.8 billion euros, significantly lower than the 9.9 billion Romania would have been estimated to pay, if the contract with Bechtel had been kept in place.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Dacian fortress of Sarmizegetusa in western Romania is now receiving extra attention from authorities in Bucharest, after part of the archaeological site was destroyed during unauthorized works. The fortress is to be included in a special administration zone, like the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, PM Emil Boc announced. He also said that the Dacian fortresses around the Orastie Mountains hold great cultural development potential, but that only 5% of their archaeological value has so far been put to good use.
Five Romanian teams will go on to compete in the playoff round for the Europa League. They are Bucharest sides Steaua, Dinamo and Rapid, together with Gaz Metan Medias and FC Vaslui. On Thursday night, Gaz Metan Medias outplayed FSV Mainz of Germany, while Dinamo Bucharest defeated Croatian side NKL Varazdin. FC Vaslui were eliminated from the Champions League preliminaries by Dutch vice champions Twente Enschede, and subsequently reseeded to the Europa League. Meanwhile, season champions Otelul Galati have a place in the Champions League group stage. In related news, the Romanian national team is to face the Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, Estonia and Andorra in Group D of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
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