TOLL 265 new cases of infection with
\nthe new coronavirus have been registered in Romania of late raising the total
\nnumber to 5467, the Group of Strategic Communication announced on Friday. The
\nvirus has so far killed 270 people whereas 729 have been declared healed and
\nwere allowed to leave hospitals. Health minister Nelu Tataru told a private TV
\nchannel that at this moment the number of those infected could be around 10-12
\nthousand, but this number can change in the following two weeks, which are
\nconsidered ‘difficult’. 42 Romanians have been killed by the virus abroad. 684
\nRomanian nationals have been confirmed infected with the new virus abroad. <\/p>\n
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DECREE A new
\nmilitary decree has been issued in Romania, where a state of emergency is in
\nplace, banning the export of a number of products such as wheat, barley, oats,
\ncorn, wheat flour, sunflower oil, sugar and bakery products. The decree also
\nallows produce markets to stay open for the duration of the state of emergency,
\ngiven the upcoming Catholic Easter this weekend and the Orthodox Easter next
\nweekend. In the run-up to the Easter holidays, shops are also allowed to extend
\ntheir opening hours. Interior minister Marcel Vela, who presented the new
\ndecree, used the opportunity to again call on the population to respect social
\ndistancing guidelines and on the Romanians living abroad not to travel to
\nRomania for the Easter holidays. <\/p>\n
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WORKERS
\nRomanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban told a public TV station that between
\n80,000 and 90,000 Romanian nationals may travel abroad for work in the coming
\nperiod. He explained these are employment contracts agreed between Romanian
\ncitizens and foreign companies, such as from Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and
\nthe Netherlands, especially in the farming sector. Orban criticised, however,
\nthe manager of the Cluj Napoca airport, in the north-west of the country, who
\ndid not inform the authorities about the departure of 2,000 seasonal workers to
\nGermany on Thursday, which led to chaos on the airport and infringement of
\ncoronavirus restrictions. Flights due to leave on Friday from Iasi, in the east
\nof the country, and supposed to take 400 Romanian workers to Germany, were
\ncancelled. The measure was taken in keeping with a military decree banning
\nassemblies in public spaces. The airport management had previously asked the
\nsecurity forces to help enforce social distancing rules to prevent a situation
\nlike that in Cluj. <\/p>\n
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MEASURES EU
\nfinance ministers have agreed on an emergency rescue package for the member
\nstates worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Over 500 billion euros are made
\navailable to help workers, businesses and governments. The agreement was
\nreached after talks in Brussels, which press agencies say were made difficult
\nby the divisions between the northern nations, especially the Dutch, and the
\ncountries in the south of Europe, which were worst hit by the outbreak and
\nwhose economies are more fragile. Italy and Spain have called for access to
\nfunds that they can spend as they see fit, while the Dutch insisted on strict
\nconditions. A compromise was reached in the end, with the emergency package
\nalso making available a consolidated credit line of 240 billion euros, with
\ncountries being able to borrow up to 2% of their GDPs. <\/p>\n
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INFLATION The annual inflation rate in Romania stayed at 3% in March, while the
\nprices of food products grew by 5.11%, that of services by 3.8% and that of
\nnon-food products by 1.39%, according to a report by the National Institute for
\nStatistics. The National Bank forecasts an inflation rate of 3% for the whole
\nyear. <\/p>\n
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