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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 3-9/05/2010 |
| (2010-05-07) |
| Last updated: 2010-05-10 14:06 EET |
President of Romania Traian Basescu on Thursday announced tough austerity measures in a bid to reduce public spending - a condition Bucharest has to meet in order to benefit from the following instalments under the stand by agreement with the IMF, the EU and the World Bank. Traian Basescu:
“First it all comes down to reducing the salary fund in the entire public sector in Romania by 25%. This measure will come into effect as from June the 1st. We have also envisaged a 15% pension cut and a significant cut in subsidies; the money saved from the cut in subsidies will be channelled to those who are in real need of financial support. The unemployment benefit will also be slashed by 15%.”
The political class has had various reactions to the announcement made by president Basescu. The opposition has lashed out at the measures proposed by the authorities which they consider of an unprecedented severity, a sign of the government’s incapacity. Although they admitted the measures were tough, the ruling parties said they were instrumental to containing the economic downturn. Leaders of the major trade union confederations said the decisions announced by the president were only aimed at correcting the mistakes made by the government at the expense of the law-abiding, tax-paying citizens, dealing the hardest blow to pensioners, unemployed and people in small income brackets. Trade unions say the situation is unacceptable and are getting ready to stage more protest rallies and strikes. Employers’ associations however are backing the measures, pointing out that the government should grant investment funds to boost economic recovery prospects.
The austerity measures announced against the background of the assessment visit paid to Bucharest by a team of experts from the IMF, the EU and the World Bank were preceded by the presentation of the quarterly report by the governor of the National Bank, Mugur Isarescu. The Central Bank revised the inflation forecast up from 3.5% to 3.7%. Isarescu warned the Central Bank would further be cautious as the domestic and external developments were still under the sign of incertitude. According to the governor, the situation is under control. Mugur Isarescu:
“We’ll stick to caution which at the moment might seem extreme caution, because we need room for manoeuvre in any domestic and foreign circumstances. We’ll continue to properly manage liquidities in the banking system, and keep the exchange rate within a margin of up to 5%, which we consider stable.”
This week Romania has seen an annual interest rate of monetary policy hitting a historic bottom of 6.25%.
On his first visit to Bucharest, NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen thanked Romania for its participation in the Alliance’s missions aimed at normalising and stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan. He thanked
Romania, the Romanian people for its contribution in Afghanistan. He said it was a major contribution, without restraints. “The Romanian forces have carried out missions which were very important to our operations in Afghanistan and that’s why I’d like to congratulate you on the decision to beef up your contingent in Afghanistan”.-NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
During the talks he held with officials in Bucharest, Rasmussen pleaded for the Alliance’s anti-missile shield to be extended in order to protect the population in the European NATO member countries.
Romania and the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population, this week have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the so-called Flower Bridge on the Prut river, laid out on their common border. On May 6th 1990, a few months after the anti-communist revolution in Romania, against the background of a national revival promoted by the republican government in Chisinau, the inhabitants of the two states for the first time could freely cross the border into their respective countries. Hundreds of thousands of Romanian citizens then visited the neighbouring republic, made up of Romanian territories annexed by Moscow in 1940. Historians say that for 50 years, the border on the Prut river had been the most tightly sealed of all borders behind the Iron Curtain out of the Kremlin's wish to isolate the citizens of Soviet Moldova from the citizens of Romania.
Tens of thousands of people visited Romania's pavilion Greenopolis at Expo 2010 in Shanghai in the first week of the World Exhibition. The event, attended by almost 200 countries and international organisations, is open until 31st of October under the motto “A Better City, a Better Life”. Romania's pavilion is in the shape of a green apple and has 5 floors and every day hosts traditional music shows, ballet and contemporary dance performances, classical music concerts and tasting of Romanian cuisine.
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2025-04-03
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