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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 02-08/08/2010 |
| (2010-08-06) |
| Last updated: 2010-08-09 13:12 EET |
At the end of the IMF and European Commission’s evaluation mission in Bucharest, the representatives of the two organizations said that Romania complied with the conditions of the stand-by agreement signed in 2009, and that tougher economic measures were not necessary. As a result, Romania is set to receive about 2 billion Euro in September, of which 1.2 billion Euro come from the European Commission, going towards covering the budget deficit, and 900 million Euro from the IMF, which will go towards the National Bank to prop up hard currency reserves and stabilize the exchange rate. IMF and EC experts issued a recommendation to the government to go ahead with reforms in social assistance and to restructure state-owned enterprises. They asked for the law on the single payment scheme in the state system to be passed urgently, and for arrears to be reduced. The mission criticized the fact that European funds were too slow in being absorbed, saying that they would be benefit the economy. The IMF also downgraded the forecast for economic growth for 2010, saying they expected the economy to shrink by 1.9% of the GDP, compared to their previous positive figure of 0.5%.
The National Bank of Romania this week has decided to hold the reference interest rate at 6.25%, as well as the level of obligatory bank reserves in the national currency and in convertible currencies. The decision was not surprising to experts, who expected that to happen against the backdrop of inflation caused by the recent hiking up of the VAT rate. However, in the near future they expect the National Bank to raise the reference interest rate. On Friday, the governor of the National Bank submitted his inflation report for 2010. The Central Bank adjusted its inflation projection from 3.7% to 7.8% until the end of the year as a result of raising the VAT. The National Bank of Romania expects the VAT hike to make prices go up by 3% on the average.
France has issued new warnings to Romania to deal with the issue of integrating its citizens of Roma origin. State Secretary for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche said that Bucharest might lose European funds if it did not solve that issue, funds that amount to 20 billion Euro before 2013. The warning came a few days after France had taken a softer tone towards Romania in the problem of Romanian Roma citizens living illegally in France. Previously that country reacted with strong-handed measures, such as expulsion, both against Roma living in camps and their countries of origin. After it had announced that it wanted to dismantle half of the Roma camps and forcibly send home Roma found guilty of crimes, the opposition and human rights organizations issued strong public declarations against the measure. Mr. Lellouche said that the duty of integrating people of Roma origin fell first and foremost on the countries of origin, and France only had the duty of offering assistance. The French official said that Paris was putting together a partnership with Bucharest, and saluted Bucharest’s decision to appoint a state secretary at the Labour Ministry to deal with the social reintegration of the Roma.
A new Romanian site has been added on the UNESCO world heritage list. The Sucevita monastery, in the north-east, this week has joined over 900 sites of an exceptional universal value from 148 countries. The centrepiece of the Sucevita monastery is the Resurrection Church with its interior and exterior paintings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The frescoes are some of the best preserved in the group of famous monasteries in northern Romania, which are already on the UNESCO list. The northern wall of the church in Sucevita features the Ladder of Virtues, illustrative of post-Byzantine art. Other Romanian sites on the UNESCO world heritage list are the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, in the south-east, the group of fortified churches and villages in Transylvania, in the center, the Horezu Monastery in the south, the Dacian fortresses in Orastie, in the center, the wooden churches in the north-west and the historical center in Sighisoara, in the center.
After a short interval, bad weather alerts have again been issued in Romania, warning against heat or flooding. In the western part of the country, people are confronted with heavy rain, storms and floods that have caused many power cuts and travel disruptions, felling trees and destroying house tops. The other half of the country is melting away at temperatures that have often exceeded 36 degrees Celsius. Due to sweltering heat and the fact that the thermal comfort index is going over the critical 80, many people have fainted in the middle of the street and several thousands have dialed the medical emergency numbers. Doctors have warned the population in the southern and eastern areas about the high level of ultraviolet radiation which can cause serious diseases in the long term. Because of the heat, the Romanian Railway Company has put in place speed restrictions for trains traveling in those regions.
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