\n
\n
\n
\nIMF experts are in Bucharest
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
An IMF delegation has this week held
\ntalks with high-ranking officials in Bucharest. The IMF has forecast a budget
\ndeficit of 3% of the GDP in 2016 and also a higher rate for 2017, due to
\nsignificantly slashed taxes and duties as well as pay rises announced by the
\nauthorities. The IMF has recommended that the deficit for 2016 be limited at a
\nrate of 1.5%. Upon meeting president Klaus Iohannis, the IMF representatives
\nvoiced reservations about the approval of a new loan agreement. IMF experts
\nhave also briefed the senators and deputies in the budget committees on the
\ntalks with government representatives. The IMF’s only objections are related to
\nstructural reforms and a potential
\nexceeding of the budget deficit. Prime Minister Victor Ponta has
\nunderlined that Romania will observe the 1.86% target deficit approved by
\nParliament. Romania’s latest agreement with the IMF, which expired in 2015, was
\nworth two billion euros, but the authorities didn’t access any of the available
\nfunds. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian Foreign Minister pays a
\nvisit to Palestine and Israel<\/b><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu paid an
\nofficial visit to Israel and Palestine on Monday and Tuesday. Aurescu was
\nreceived by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday. The two
\nofficials tackled the present situation in the Middle East and the prospects of
\nresuming peace talks with Israel. In Jerusalem, Bogdan Aurescu met with Israeli
\nPrime Minister and Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Romanian official
\nsaid that rebuilding trust was a prerequisite for resuming peace talks with the
\nPalestinians and reiterated an appeal for defusing tension in the region. The
\ntwo officials reconfirmed the privileged relations between Romania and Israel
\nand tackled cooperation in various fields such as the military and cyber
\nsecurity. The Romanian minister also met with members of the community of
\nRomanian-born Israelis. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Parliament in Bucharest hosts debates on postal voting<\/b> <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A bill on postal voting is being debated
\nupon in the decision-making Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest. The legislative
\nproposal enjoyed a landslide Senate approval; both the Social Democrats, the
\nmain party in the coalition government and the National Liberal Party, the main
\nopposition party, backed the bill. This
\nkind of voting will be made available only to Romanians residing abroad, who
\nwill be casting their ballot in Parliamentary, Presidential and EU Parliamentary
\nelections. Voters must enlist in the Election Registry a couple of months
\nbefore the election. The document, drawn up by the Permanent Election
\nAuthority, provides for the setting up of a postal election bureau for every 10
\nthousand voters. Organizational malfunction had prevented thousands of
\nRomanians living abroad from casting their ballot in the presidential election
\nof November 2014; many of them had been standing in queues for hours before the
\nelection booths, and didn’t even manage to vote for their candidate. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Former president Ion Iliescu and other
\nformer high-ranking officials are indicted for the events of
\nJune 1990. <\/b><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania’s former president Ion Iliescu
\nhas been placed under investigation for crimes against humanity in a file on
\nwhat is known as the Miners’ Raid on Bucharest over June 13th and 15th.
\nThe raid stifled a wide-scale protest rally against the left-wing government,
\nwhich came to power after the fall of the communist dictatorship in Romania.
\nInvestigations have been launched in the same file against Virgil Magureanu,
\nthe then head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, former Prime Minister Petre
\nRoman and also former ministers Victor Athanasie Stanculescu and Gelu Voican
\nVoiculescu. Against the backdrop of violent incidents in Bucharest, which the
\narmy had already managed to contain, Iliescu invoked a far-right coup attempt,
\ncalling on the population to defend the democratic institutions. The
\npresident’s call was responded by miners based in Jiu Valley, central Romania,
\nwho stormed the University, some opposition party headquarters and some
\nindependent publications offices. The incidents ended in four official deaths,
\nhundreds of wounded people and over 1,000 abusive arrests. Last year the
\nEuropean Court of Human Rights issued a decision asking Romania to carry on
\ninvestigations in the miners’ raid of June 1990. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian Government endorses the second budget adjustment this year <\/b><\/p>\n
The Romanian government has endorsed the
\nsecond budget adjustment this year. According to a bill drafted by the Finance
\nMinistry, incomes and spending will each rise by roughly 2.6 billion lei, with
\na deficit of around 1.85% of the GDP. The Ministry of Agriculture will get most
\nof the money, about 770 million lei, while the social insurance budget fund
\nwill be enlarged in order to support the pay rises due to come into effect as
\nOctober 1st. The Ministries of Regional Development and Public
\nAdministration, as well as the European Funds, Education and Labour Ministries
\nwill also benefit from increased funds. 1.61 billion lei are to be taken from
\nthe Transport Ministry but the National Railway Company and Metrorex, running
\nthe Bucharest tube network, will get additional funds. The Liberals have been
\nquick to complain that funds have again been slashed from the road
\ninfrastructure. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Public Sector employees whose salaries
\nwere cut in 2010 get their money back <\/b><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Under a recent court ruling, teachers,
\nmagistrates and public sector employees who won legal trials against the former
\ngovernment led by Emil Boc will get their money back, in the form of amounts
\ndeclared by the court as enforceable titles. Prime Minister Victor Ponta
\nannounced the budget surplus this year allows for these payments to be made in
\nadvance, so employees will not have to wait until 2016. Public sector employees
\nhad their wages slashed by 25% in 2010 due to the crisis. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A look at the headline-making events this past week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":123996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40944],"tags":[28963,29402,28903,32197,32190,29384],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-124335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-week-in-review","tag-bogdan-aurescu","tag-budget-adjustment","tag-imf","tag-ion-iliescu","tag-miners-raid","tag-postal-voting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n