April 11, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 11.04.2025, 20:18
PNRR Romania will use almost all of the European funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), even if the deadlines for this program are not to be extended by the European Union beyond the middle of next year, said Finance Minister Tánczos Barna. He explained that for this purpose, by the end of the month, the government in Bucharest will have redistributed funds to other projects. On Thursday, the Ministry of Finance borrowed almost 200 million Euros from banks through an issue of state bonds with a maturity of 64 months, according to the National Bank, and today the state wants to attract more money, for this purpose scheduling an additional auction. The money is to be used to fund the public debt and the state budget deficit.
TENNIS Romania’s female tennis side was outperformed by Canada 3-0, after Georgia Andreea Crăciun/Mara Gae were defeated by Kayla Cross/Rebecca Marino 6-2, 6-4, in the doubles of the event hosted by Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, in Group A of the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers. Also on Friday, Anca Todoni lost to Marina Stakusic 6-4, 6-3, and Miriam Bulgaru was defeated by Victoria Mboko in two sets, 6-1, 6-4. In the other matches in the group, Romania will be playing Japan on April 12, and Canada will be up against Japan on April 13. The winner of the group will qualify for the Final 8 tournament, which will be hosted by Shenzhen (China) and to which Italy, the holder of the trophy, and China, the host team, are directly qualified. The teams ranked second and third in the groups will compete in the play-offs of the 2025 edition of the competition, alongside the best teams in Group I.
INFLATION In Romania, the annual inflation rate fell to 4.86% in March, from 5.02% in February, as food prices rose by 5.10%, non-food prices by 3.84%, and services by 6.99%, according to data released on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The National Bank of Romania revised upwards, to 3.8%, from 3.5% previously, the inflation forecast for the end of 2025 and anticipates that it will reach 3.1% at the end of 2026, according to data presented in February by the Governor of the National Bank, Mugur Isărescu.
BOOKFAIR Between April 11-13, 2025, Romania is participating in the most important international event dedicated to books, hosted by the French capital, Festival du Livre. The participation has been organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute, through the National Book Center (CENNAC) and the ICR Paris, in partnership with the embassies of Romania and the Republic of Moldova in France. Visitors can choose from 52 titles by Romanian authors translated into French, published by 37 publishing houses in France and Switzerland, and 23 titles in Romanian, proposed by 13 Romanian publishers.
MEETING The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest has cautioned that on Saturday, the Serbian capital, Belgrade will be seeing a large-scale meeting and the central area will be closed to traffic. Major streets and bridges are expected to be affected and the Romanian ministry has recommended tourists that in order to avoid crowded places to resort to interactive online maps, which may enable them to find alternative routes.
WEATHER In the next 24 hours Romania will have an overcast sky with rain showers on isolated areas. Mixed precipitations and glazed frost are expected in the mountainous regions and moderate wind in the east, south-east and south-west of the country with highs ranging from 6 to 18 degrees Celsius. Avalanche warnings have been issued for altitudes above 18 hundred meters in the Fagaras, Bucegi and Calimani Mountains.
(bill)
