July 21, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 21.07.2015, 12:15
54% of Romanians believe that Romania is safe from certain risks due to the fact that it still uses its domestic currency, the RON, and has not switched to the EURO, according to an opinion poll by INSCOP Research , on the crisis in Greece. Only 24% say Romania would stand better had it be part of the Eurozone. According to the same study, 48.9% of Romanians believe that citizens should make sacrifices so that their country can pay its debt on time. Over 34% of respondents think that Romania will be slightly influenced by the developments in Greece, while 25% say the effects of the reek crisis over Romanias economy will be significant.
The Greek Government submitted to Parliament new bills in the field of the civil law and the banking law needed in order to start implementing the reforms agreed on with the EU. The Greek Parliament passed last week a first package of measures such as the reform of the pension system, the VAT increase and reduced public expenditure. Greece is no longer defaulting on debt after paying 6 billion euros to its international lenders, the European Central Bank and the IMF. The payment became possible after Athens had obtained an emergency credit line of 7.16 billion euros from the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism. The money should ensure Greece’s funding until talks with international lenders on a fresh bailout programme, the third of this kind after 2010, are completed. Negotiations over another financial aid package, whose value is estimated at 86 billion euros for three years, could take several weeks.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Tuesday that the new Fiscal Code, which includes a 19% VAT cut, will be passed in a constitutional formula by September 1st. We recall president Klaus Iohannis rejected the new Fiscal Code, sending it back to Parliament for debates as the fiscal relaxation measures envisaged might significantly impact future budget planning. Government representatives have proposed as alternatives for passing the code, the government’s assuming of responsibility for this document, passing some of its provisions through an emergency ordinance or through a special government session.
Romanian Defence Minister, Mircea Dusa had talks, on Tuesday, with his Portuguese counterpart Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco at the air base in Monte Real, Portugal. Dusa also met with the Romanian military personnel training to take over the F-16 Fighting Falcons. On Monday, the Romanian military official visited the Land Forces Command in Porto as well as several research & development centres.
Romania will again fight a heat wave on July 22 and 23. Metheorologists have issued a yelow code alert for 29 counties and the capital city Bucharest, where maximum temperatures will stand at 35 to 38 degrees Celsius. The temperature humidity index will exceed the critical treshold of 80 units.
