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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 27/07-02/08/2009 |
| (2009-07-31) |
| Last updated: 2009-08-03 17:39 EET |
President Traian Basescu, noting that the economy will shrink more than anticipated, said that Romania could not comply with the conditions set in spring by the IMF as part of the loan accord:
Track VM: If the economy falls even further, and budget revenues are smaller than estimated, then we’ll need to find formulas to compensate and manage a national debt of around 4.6%. It is in our best interest to stay within these parameters in order to make it into the Eurozone on January 1st, 2014.
The head of state believes that one urgent measure that the government can take would be to downsize the public sector by 20% in order to reduce budget expenditure. The president’s warning relates to the restrictions imposed by the IMF, which asked the government to reduce expenditure by 2.4 billion Euros. Romania has 1.4 million state employees, and such a measure would mean around 300,000 people losing their jobs.
At the moment, the IMF has a mission in Bucharest to evaluate the progress the country has made in implementing the program it promised to impose in exchange for 20 billion Euros in loans. The IMF has already delivered 5 billion Euros, while the EU has delivered 1.5 billion. Head of mission Jeffrey Franks said that the IMF will show flexibility on the issue of higher budget deficit, considering the worsening of the macro-economic situation. The stand-by accord signed in spring set a deficit target of 4.6% of the GDP, but the Romanian authorities want an adjustment of that figure to as much as 7.5%, because state revenues have diminished considerably recently. Finance minister Gheorghe Pogea estimates that, by the end of the year, revenues will continue to drop, and the economy could shrink by as much as 8%.
Spanish crown prince Felipe de Asturias and consort Letizia paid a three day visit to Bucharest earlier this week. The meeting was aimed at promoting bilateral relations, especially in view of Romania’s comparatively recent EU integration. The main topic for discussion between the Prince, Romania’s President Basescu and PM Boc, was the situation of the Romanian community in Spain, totalling around 700,000 people. The Romanian president noted that the Romanian community is one of the best integrated in Spain, socially and culturally. The Spanish royal couple also attended a Romanian-Spanish business Forum, and visited religious and cultural sites in Bucharest.
President Traian Basescu on Wednesday said that Romania has lived up to its military and political commitments related to Iraq. The statement was made at the parade and ceremony marking the completion of the Romanian pull-out from the Middle Eastern country. Basescu thanked Romania’s coalition partners, especially the US, for supporting the Romanian troops, mainly in logistical terms. This ceremony was the first time since WWII when Romanian troops marched under the Arch of Triumph in Bucharest upon returning from a foreign expedition. Romania kept over 850 troops in Iraq since 2003, the last of whom returned home last week. They were on security, reconstruction and humanitarian missions. During the six years they spent in Iraq, two Romanian troops were killed, while 12 were injured.
The outcome of the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova can be seen as a success for the democratic opposition, the president of Romania announced. Foreign minister Cristian Diaconescu said that Romania was open to cooperation within a European platform with any future government in Chisinau, irrespective of its political orientation, as long as it had a democratic mandate. In the elections, the ruling communist party got 48 of the 101 seats in Parliament. Together, the four opposition parties will be able to muster 53 seats, though neither figure is sufficient for either of the sides to appoint a president. The presidential situation is therefore still unclear in Romania’s neighbouring republic.
Romanian teams started off on the right foot in the third preliminary round of the European Cups. On Wednesday, in the Champions League, Romania’s vice-champions, FC Timisoara, tied an away-game 2-all with Shaktar Donetsk, who won the UEFA cup this year – it’s a team that’s actually coached by Romanian football legend Mircea Lucescu. Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni qualified directly for the competition by winning the domestic championship. In the Europa League, Steaua Bucharest won 3-nil at home against Motherwell, while FC Vaslui, also at home, beat Cypriot team Omonia Nicosia, 2-nil. Two more Romanian teams are playing in the Europa League, Dinamo Bucharest and CFR Cluj.
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