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COVID-19<\/b> – Romania on Wednesday
\nrecorded almost 15,000 new Covid infections and 331 related fatalities, while
\nmore than 1,500 Covid patients are in intensive care. The incidence rate hit a
\nnew record high in the capital Bucharest, nearing 11 per 1,000 inhabitants from
\n6.33 last week. The incidence rate is over 10 in 10 cities around the country.
\nThe healthcare system is under unprecedented pressure, with hospitals
\nstruggling to find beds for new admissions. <\/p>\n
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FORECAST <\/b>– The World Bank improved its
\nforecast on the evolution of the Romanian economy this year to 7.3%, according
\nto its latest forecast for Europe and Central Asia. For next year, the World
\nBank is expecting a 4.1% growth rate. In 2023, the World Bank is expecting
\nRomanian economz to grow by 3.9%. As for Europe and Central Asia, it says a
\nsurprisingly strong recovery in the first half of the year boosted economic
\nactivity on emerging markets and developing countries, with regional economy
\nexpected to grow more than estimated to reach 5.5% this year.<\/p>\n
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FINANCE<\/b> – The decision of the
\nNational Bank of Romania to increase the key interest rate to 1.5% per year, up
\nfrom 1.25%, came into force on Wednesday. The central bank is thus trying to
\nkeep in check the recent steep growth of the inflation rate, which has exceeded
\nestimates. According to the National Bank, the situation is the result of price
\nhikes, especially electricity and natural gas, and, while it cannot influence
\nthese developments, it can intervene in areas that it can control. The Bank
\nforecasts that the price of energy products will continue to grow, with the
\ninflation rate hitting significantly higher values than expected. Official data
\nshow that the annual inflation rate passed 5.2% in August.<\/p>\n
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\n
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POLITICS <\/b>– Romania’s minority
\ngovernment formed by the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of
\nEthnic Hungarians in Romania and led by the Liberal Florin C\u00ee\u0163u was ousted
\nfollowing Tuesday’s no-confidence vote. 281 out of Parliament’s 318 MPs voted
\nagainst the government. The motion was initiated by the Social Democrats in
\nopposition and also got the votes of the Save Romania Union, until recently in
\nthe coalition government, and the Alliance for the Union of Romanians. In his
\nfirst public reaction after the vote, president Klaus Iohannis said Romania is
\nfacing a health as well as a political crisis and invited political parties for
\nconsultations next week to nominate a
\nnew prime minister.<\/p>\n
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\n
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SUMMIT <\/b>– Romania’s president Klaus
\nIohannis attended the informal autumn summit of the European Council and the
\nEU-Western Balkans summit hosted by Brdo, Slovenia. EU leaders together with
\nthe six partners in the Western Balkans discussed the global role of the EU.
\nTalks focused on the developments in Afghanistan, the security agreement
\nbetween the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia (AUKUS) , as well
\nas relations between the European Union and China. Klaus Iohannis referred to
\nensuring stability, security and resilience for the EU, as well as the key role
\nof the trans-Atlantic relation, as part of the same community of values. The
\nRomanian president also spoke about the need to quickly come up with solutions
\nat EU level with respect to soaring energy prices. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n
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NOBEL <\/b>– Researchers Benjamin List
\nfrom Germany and David W.C. MacMillan from the United States on Wednesday were
\nawarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their development of a new tool
\nfor molecular construction called organocatalysis. The Nobel Awards week kicked
\noff on Monday, when researchers David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian were
\nbestowed the Prize in Medicine for their discovery of temperature and touch
\nreceptors. On Tuesday, the Nobel Prize in Physics went to researchers Sykuro
\nManabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi for groundbreaking contributions to
\nour understanding of complex systems. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
\nwill award the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday and the Nobel Peace Prize
\non Friday. The Riksbank Sveriges Award in Economic Sciences will be announced
\non October 11. (CM & VP)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35374,35308,29655,28945,31555,36409],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-economic-forecast","tag-european-council-summit","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-no-confidence-vote","tag-nobel-prize-in-chemistry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n