April 4, 2018 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 04.04.2018, 20:06
MEDIA The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Wednesday passed a draft that completes the Audio-visual law and under which radio and television stations in Romania must broadcast two advertisements of public interest. These are: “For a healthy economy, buy products made in Romania!” and “For a healthy environment, teach children to respect nature!” These two advertisements are to be broadcast free of charge without being included in the legal time slot allotted to commercials. The category of public interest announcements and advertisements also includes those referring to dangerous hydro-meteorological phenomena issued by the national authorities in the field. The draft will be submitted to the Senate for approval.
SURVEY According to a survey published in Chisinau on Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Romania’s former president Traian Basescu are the political personalities abroad electorate in the ex-soviet Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova trusts the most. Putin comes first in the survey with 55% of the respondents being followed by Basescu with 44%. At the opposite pole there are Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili as well as the presidents of the United States and France, Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron respectively. The survey was carried out by the Moldovan Center for Sociological Research over March 10th and 27th.
CENTRAL BANK The National Bank of Romania On Wednesday decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 2.25%, against the expectations of most analysts, who anticipated an increase in figures. The central bank also decided to maintain the earned deposit interest rate at 1.25% per year and the credit interest rate at 3.25% per year. The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania also decided to maintain the current level of the mandatory minimum reserves for liabilities in the national currency, the leu, as well as in hard currency for crediting institutions.
MOTION The simple motion initiated by the National Liberal Party, in opposition, against the Culture Minister, George Ivaşcu, was rejected on Wednesday in a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies with the Romanian Parliament, just a day after the document had been debated in a plenary session of Parliament. The Liberals deplore what they call negligence in preparing the events devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Great Union and voice concern about the Government’s inability to properly organise the December 1 celebrations. They also say a public debate meant to find solutions and reconsider a national plan devoted to the Great Union Centennial is needed. In response, the Culture Minister, George Ivaşcu, gave assurances that he is constantly concerned about how to efficiently organise the celebrations devoted to all Romanians.
