December 27, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 27.12.2022, 19:56

Budget. Romania’s general
consolidated budget went up to 4.2% of GDP in the first 11 months of the year,
from 3.36% at the end of October, according to a report published on Tuesday by
the finance ministry. Compared with the same period in 2021, the budget deficit
dropped by 0.5% between January and November. The deficit accounts for 58.7
billion lei, the equivalent of around 12 billion euros. The target deficit
level for this year is 5.8% of GDP.

Flu. Over 100,000 cases of flu have been reported in Romania,
particularly in children. Experts advise people, especially those most
vulnerable, to take the anti-flu and anti-COVID shots. Health Minister
Alexandru Rafila says he expects a new wave of COVID that would result in a
higher number of serious cases in Romania. A little over 3,400 COVID cases have
been recorded in Romania in the last seven days, including 950 cases of
reinfection.

Moldova. Maia Sandu, the president of the ex-Soviet, majority
Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, has hailed the initiative of the
Moldovan Education Ministry to also offer free Romanian language courses to
adults, beginning next year. A country-wide programme providing Romanian
language courses to Moldovan citizens who do not use Romanian on a frequent
basis was first launched in 2013, but it has not benefitted from sufficient
funding until now and has only been offered to children. According to a
statement from the Moldovan president’s office, next year’s state budget
allocates funding to extend the programme. The Moldovan Government is expected
to pass a decree containing further clarification on the various aspects of the
programme. Established on parts of the eastern Romanian territories
annexed by Stalin’s Soviet Union in 1940 following an ultimatum, the Republic
of Moldova proclaimed its independence from Moscow on 27th August
1991. On that same day, Romania was the first country in the world to recognise
its statehood. According to the latest census from 2014, apart from Romanians
(some of whom identify as Moldovans), who make up 80% of its population,
Moldova is also home to 180,000 ethnic Ukrainians, who account for 6.5% of its
population, and 110,000 ethnic Russians, who account for 4% of the population.

Accidents. Almost 1,500 people have died and 3,300 injured in road
accidents in the first 11 months of the year in Romania. According to the
police, this figure is lower than last year. The most common causes for the
accidents were indiscipline among pedestrians, inappropriate speed, misconduct
by cyclists and failing to give right of way. The police issued 1.5 million
penalties and confiscated almost 79,000 driving licences.

Handball. The men’s handball teams of Romania, Egypt, Algeria and
Slovakia will take part in this year’s edition of the Carpați Trophy
tournament, held over December 28-29 in Oradea, the Romanian Handball
Federation announced on its website. Egypt and Algeria have already secured their
qualification to the 2023 World Cup, to be held in January 2023. Romania’s
Spanish coach Xavi Pascual has called up 24 players to the squad, who met on
Monday for training. (CM)