September 8, 2021 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 08.09.2021, 23:35

COVID-19 2,079 new Covid infections were reported in Romania in the past
24 hours out of over 40 thousand tests, the Strategic Communication Group
announced on Wednesday. 28 people have died from Covid-related issues while 470
patients, including 8 children, are presently in ICUs. According to the
National Institute of Public Health, over 80% of the Covid-19 infections
reported last week were among unvaccinated people. 93% of the deceased were
also among the unvaccinated and 5% among those who got only the first jab. A
third dose is to become available in Romania in October after the authorities
here will have got recommendation from the European Medicines Agency, Valeriu
Gheorghita, the army physician in charge of Romania’s vaccine rollout, has
said. The vaccine will be first made available to the vulnerable categories.
31% of Romania’s population has been fully vaccinated while 49.4% of the
Bucharest residents have been immunized so far.

MEETING
The works of the Annual Meeting of the Romanian Diplomacy continue in Bucharest
in hybrid format. The session on Wednesday was dedicated to current security
challenges, and was also attended by Helga Schmid, OSCE Secretary-General who
said that she witnessed the devastating impact the conflict had upon people in
eastern Ukraine. The OSCE official added that the organization facilitates the
political dialogue for the peaceful settling of the crisis. During the talks
Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu had with his Greek counterpart Nikos
Dendias, the latter said that Romania can count on Greece’s full support in its
efforts to join Schengen and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development.

RATING
The financial rating agency Fitch Ratings warns that the dissolution of the
Romanian government coalition might disrupt fiscal consolidation efforts. These
are critical for changing the ‘negative’ outlook that is currently associated
with Romania’s ‘BBB minus’ rating. Fitch has repeatedly stated that the
evolution of public finances is the main factor influencing Romania’s rating.
The agency reports that the tensions between USR-PLUS, number two in the
coalition, an alliance whose ministers resigned from the government, and the
liberal prime minister Florin Citu, leave the executive without a parliamentary
majority. This might further delay the European Commission’s approval of the
National Recovery and Resilience Plan – NRRP, which the Romanian government
will be waiting for until the end of September, Fitch said. The rating agency
also points out that political turmoil is a danger to the fiscal outlook. The
executive has planned ambitious reforms on revenues and expenditures to reduce
the deficit below 3% of GDP in 2024 from 9.3% in 2020.

(bill)