August 19, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of the latest local and world news
Newsroom, 19.08.2024, 20:14
GROWTH According to the Fiscal Council, this year Romania may register an economic growth under the 3.4% the government initially forecast. In its annual report published on Monday, the Council, which is an independent institution, has drawn attention to the fact that the budget deficit at the end of this year will exceed 7% of the GDP. The new pension law and the pay rises in the public sector are expected to generate additional costs in the second half of the year. According to the Council representatives, Romania needs concrete and credible policies to support fiscal-budgetary consolidation on medium term – both in terms of incomes and improving the tax-collection process.
HEAT A persistent heat wave has engulfed Romania, where code red, orange and yellow alerts have been in place for a couple of days now. Extremely high temperatures have been reported in most of the regions with a Temperature-Humidity Index above 80 units. The highs of the day are ranging between 29 and 39 degrees Celsius. For a couple of days now, Romania’s capital city Bucharest has been seeing temperatures of 37-38 degrees Celsius.
ATHENS Romanian firefighters are carrying on operations of putting out wildfires in Greece, especially in the region of Attica. Several fire engines are being employed for this mission, including a special one able to carry 30 thousand liters of water. In this mission, the Romanian firefighters are operating under the coordination of their Greek counterparts who are monitoring the situation in the regions with a higher risk of wildfires. Since August 14th the Romanian Air Forces have also been carrying out firefighting missions in Albania, a country, which is also facing the danger of wildfires.
PENSIONS Millions of Romanian pensioners will receive pension benefits based on a new calculation formula as of September 1st. Authorities promise this new system would remove all inequities in the pension system. According to official data, after recalculation the average public pension benefits will increase from around 460 Euros to around 540 Euros. The finance minister, Marcel Boloș, says that in the forthcoming period the pressure on the public deficit will increase. Under the new regulations, in order to receive public pension benefits in Romania the minimum payment contribution period will be 15 years, with the retirement age planned to reach 65 for both men and women in 2035.
RABLA A new session of the “Rabla Plus” national car scrapping programme, aimed at facilitating the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles by individuals, public institutions and local administration units, was launched on Monday. According to the Environment Fund Authority, applicants receive a voucher for the purchase of a new vehicle, in return for scrapping 1 or 2 vehicles older than 6 years. The voucher for the purchase of an EV is worth approx. EUR 5,000, and the one for a hybrid car or electric motorcycle is around EUR 2,600, irrespective of the number of cars scrapped. For public institutions, the voucher amounts to EUR 24,000.
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