December 12, 2015
Moodys has improved Romanias rating from stable to positive/ The Romanian Parliaments specialist committees continue debates on the state draft budget for 2016, with a final vote being expected on Wednesday
România Internațional, 12.12.2015, 14:17
COUNTRY RATING– Moodys has changed the outlook on Romania’s Baa3 government ratings to positive from stable, a communiqué issued by the Romanian Finance Ministry on Saturday shows. According to the same source, the decision made by the agency reflects Romania’s significant progress in correcting its macroeconomic imbalances, reducing the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks and paving the way for robust economic growth. Moody’s forecasts Romania’s economic recovery to gain further momentum in 2016, thanks to a robust expansion of private consumption and investment as well as solid public consumption growth, which will allow real GDP growth to accelerate to 4.1% in 2016, from 3.5% in 2015. Moodys has also taken note of Romania’s sizeable fiscal adjustment in the recent past, leading to a significant reduction of the government’s fiscal deficit and contributing to a stabilization of the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio. In August, Fitch Ratings reconfirmed Romania’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘BBB-‘ and ‘BBB’, respectively, with a stable outlook.
DRAFT BUDGET– The Romanian Parliaments specialist committees continue debates on the state draft budget for 2016. The committees will also convene tomorrow, and the final vote is expected next Wednesday, in the plenary session of the Romanian Parliament. The Social Democratic Party has expressed satisfaction with the current form of the budget bill, saying that it respects the projection made by the former left wing government, in terms of fiscal relaxation and economic growth. In turn, the Liberals have said that, to a large extent, the budget is satisfactory under its current form, small adjustments being likely to be made during debates by the committees, without however expecting substantial changes.
CORRUPTION- In Romania, Prince Paul Lambrino is today being brought to the Court of Appeal in Brasov, with the prosecutors making a temporary arrest proposal in a file on illegal return of property. He was taken into custody yesterday by the anti-corruption prosecutors, whereas a businessman and a lawyer are under home arrest, and four other people are placed under judicial control in the same lawsuit. According to the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the indictees set up a criminal group which set as ultimate goal to obtain the properties unlawfully claimed by Prince Paul. The estimated value of the damage is some 136 million Euros. A number of politicians, including the Liberal Ioan Oltean, have been investigated recently for involvement in cases of illegal return of property or illegal compensation granted by the National Authority for Property Restitution.
ADDRESS-Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has made a request stating his wish to address Parliament next week, on December 16. The Presidential Administration has made public the presidents intention to speak before Senators and Deputies a year after he took office. Klaus Iohannis has sent a letter, in that respect, to the speakers of the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament
SPORTS– Romanias national football team will find out its opponents in the 2016 European Championships in France, after the group stage draw in Paris. For the first time, there will be 24 participating teams, which will be drawn into six groups of four teams each. The 15th edition of the European Championships will unfold between June 10 and July 10. This will be Romanias fifth participation in a European Championship final tournament (1984, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016). Romanias best performance was in 2000, when it advanced to the quarter-finals from a group with Germany, Portugal and England before falling to eventual runners-up Italy.
(Translated by: Diana Vijeu)
