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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 16-22/02/2009 |
| (2009-02-20) |
| Last updated: 2009-02-23 15:58 EET |
The Romanian Parliament on Friday passed the 2009 budget bill, after a week of debates marked by divergences between representatives of the power sharing Liberal Democratic and Social Democratic parties, on the one hand, and those of the opposition made up of the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, on the other. Enjoying an overall majority in parliament of over 70% of the seats, the coalition parties have rejected , one by one, thousands of amendments tabled by the Liberals. According to Prime Minister Emil Boc, the budget bill is no less than realistic, and includes anti-crisis economic measures. They include maintaining a 16 percent flat tax , major public investments in infrastructure, increasing the absorption of community funds, clearing debts to economic companies, scrapping the tax on reinvested profits and rendering the guarantee fund for small and medium-sized businesses operational. Over 10 billion euro are planned to be allocated for investment, for boosting economic growth. This austerity budget has been built on a 2 percent deficit and a 2.5 percent economic growth rate. These goals are impossible to reach, according to experts in the field.
This week, however, the Government has produced some concrete results, for instance by establishing a social pension. Minister of Labour Marian Sarbu has more:
“At these times of crisis, low income bracket citizens are the ones who are the most affected by price hikes. So it is only natural that we try to compensate people with low salaries or pensions for their expenses. We have introduced a guaranteed minimum pension amounting to 300 lei as of April the 1st and to 350 lei as of October the 1st. Just to be clear, we're not talking about social aid, but about a guaranteed minimum pension for people who were work-able.”
Another government decision has been announced by Elena Udrea, Minister of Tourism: employees under a labour agreement will be granted holiday tickets tantamount to six minimum gross salaries per economy. The tickets will be valid only in destinations throughout Romania. Minister of Tourism Elena Udrea:
“One of our goals is a better fiscal control over tourist activities which are illegally carried out at the moment. We also intend to raise consumption and increase the number of jobs in tourism.”
The government has decided to cut by one third the much-debated car registration fee, which has been changed four times in the past two years. The measure might help overcome the deadlock it reached late last year, when discontent with the huge sums of money they had to pay, most car owners decided to postpone the registration of their second-hand vehicles. Another piece of news comes from the local carmaker Dacia Pitesti, owned by the French group Renault. Closed down several times in recent months, due to the plummeting demand, the plant has recently announced the resumption of its full production to meet a 30 thousand unit demand from Germany.
The recent violent crimes committed by Romanian immigrants in Italy have again made headlines in the media, politicians bringing up the issue of immigrants in their speeches. Italian public opinion has recently been enraged by the rape of a 14 year- old girl by two Romanian immigrants. That is not the only serious crime committed by Romanian nationals in Italy, sparking off a real psychosis also fueled by the discourse of some officials in Rome who have yielded to the temptation of blaming the entire Romanian community in Italy. Romanian foreign minister Cristian Diaconescu has pointed to the danger of inciting to xenophobia, recalling that hundreds of thousands of Romanians honestly working in Italy contribute to 1% of the country’s GDP. On Monday, Diaconescu is to meet his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini in Rome to discuss the situation of the Romanian community in Italy.
The Romanian state is undertaking all moves to protect its citizens abroad, Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has announced, adding that not all Romanians should not be blamed for the crimes committed by some people violating the law. Meanwhile, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has sent a plan of emergency measures to Romania’s diplomatic missions in Italy, while the Romanian government has announced it will update a plan to support Romanian nationals in Italy, endorsed in 2007. Among other things the plan provides for police and judicial cooperation in implementing social measures. Worried by the rising xenophobic acts including attacks against shops or restaurants owned or frequented by Romanian nationals in Rome or in the suburbs, Amnesty International has recently condemned the anti-Romanian rhetoric and the political discourses encouraging verbal and physical abuses against Romanians.
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