|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| ECONOMIC MEASURES AGAINST THE CRISIS 20/05/2009 |
| (2009-05-20) |
| Last updated: 2009-05-21 14:41 EET |
Prime Minister Emil Boc told the Romanian public radio station that the withdrawal of funds by foreign banks would come against the agreement reached in Vienna this March. He warned that the government would not let this happen; on the contrary, it may levy increased taxes on the respective banks. Emil Boc:
“Foreign banks, through their Romanian subsidiaries, made quite substantial profits in Romania before the crisis, and now, when times are tough, they might be tempted to pass the burden of this crisis on to the Romanians, and withdraw their money from Romanian subsidiaries. But should this happen, the government of Romania would not sit back and watch it. We can take a number of steps, which have been used in other parts of the world as well, such as the so-called Robin Hood tax, the over-taxation of profits. We hope this will not be necessary, but foreign banks need to understand that they cannot simply dodge responsibility or treat Romania as a state that has no means to intervene.”
Later, the prime minister softened his tone. But over-taxation of profits is viewed by bankers as a joke, the newspaper GANDUL reports. They only have one question to ask: Which profits? According to the said newspaper, in the first quarter the banking sector already reported losses of 50 million Euros. And the money to fund investments able to set the economy in motion is not the only concern of the Boc government. Fearing that standards of living will be lowering rapidly, trade unions demand an increase of minimum wages. Minister for finance Gheorghe Pogea says this is impossible for the moment, as it would jeopardise the macroeconomic balance. A prospective increase of minimum wages from 600 lei (150 euros) to 800 lei (200 euros), as requested by trade unions, will be considered only after the economic performance for the first 6 months of the year is analysed.
Authorities already talk about slight recovery signals. But these need to be confirmed, particularly given that analysts still make pessimistic forecasts and expect the economic environment to continue to weaken. Social forecasts sound no better. A survey by UNICEF and the World Bank estimates that some 1.6 million Romanians will be affected by poverty in 2009, that is 370 thousand more than last year. And 350 thousand of them will be children up to 14 years of age. Poverty, although deeper in rural areas, will be quickly spreading to urban communities, because of the growing number of unemployed and of the crisis that will severely affect non-farming sectors of the economy.
|
|
| |
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