IMF An International Monetary Fund mission
\nheaded by Jan Kees Martijn will be in Bucharest
\nbetween January 29 and February 1, to review the latest economic and financial
\ndevelopments. The previous IMF visit to Romania was last autumn, when IMF
\nexperts conducted their annual analysis of the Romanian economy. At that time, Jan
\nKees Martijn said estimates were pointing to a budget deficit of 6% of GDP for
\nthe end of 2023, and of 5% in 2024, as well as to an economic growth rate of 2.3%.
\nRomania has no ongoing agreements with the IMF at present, but the Fund
\nconducts regular visits to review financial and economic indicators. The PM Marcel Ciolacu voiced optimism with
\nrespect to the IMF’s assessment. He explained that Romania still has problems
\nmeeting a benchmark in the National Recovery and Resilience Programme, as the
\nEC believes Romania has too low SME taxation levels.<\/p>\n
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\n
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DRUGS The Romanian justice minister Alina Gorghiu requested the
\nemergency endorsement of the bills against drug trafficking and drug use. A
\nfirst bill concerns the set-up of the Drug Trafficking Register and of regional
\nrehab centres for drug addicts. A second bill eliminates suspended sentences
\nfor drug trafficking. On Friday, after the Justice and Home Affairs Council,
\nthe interior minister Catalin Predoiu announced that Romania set up a task
\nforce integrating several institutions involved in the fight against drug
\ntrafficking. He said Romania is on the front line of the crackdown on
\ninternational drug trafficking networks, and welcomed the Council’s decision to
\ninclude Romania’s and Bulgaria’s air and maritime borders in the Schengen area.
\nAccording to the Romanian official, EU member countries should focus on curbing
\ndrug trafficking in ports, through an integrated international platform. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
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PRICES In Romania, the mark-up for basic foodstuff prices may be capped
\nfor another 3 months. The announcement was made by Marcel Ciolacu recently, as
\nthe capping scheme is due to come to an end soon. According to the PM, a
\ndecision will be made following talks with all stakeholders. The agriculture
\nminister told Radio Romania that a discussion in this respect will be held on
\nMonday. He explained that according to data made public by the National
\nStatistics Institute and the Competition Council, the measure has been
\neffective. The agriculture minister added that the introduction of further
\nproducts in the list is being considered. The emergency order passed by the
\ngovernment last summer in order to contain the effects of inflation saw the
\ntemporary capping of mark-ups for several basic foodstuffs, including bread,
\nmilk, yogurt, flour, eggs, chicken and pork. The measure was subsequently
\nextended and further products were included.<\/p>\n
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\n
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UN The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, Sunday called on the
\ncountries that have suspended funding for the UN agency for Palestinian
\nrefugees (UNRWA) to ‘ at least guarantee’ the continuity of UNRWA operations,
\nwhich are vital for 2 million people, AFP reports. The UN body, which is the
\nmain provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, Friday announced firing a number of
\nemployees accused of involvement in the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7,
\n2023. In turn, the director of the UN body, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that the
\nvital assistance granted by UNRWA is about to end because of funding issues. Israel
\ndemands the resignation of Philippe Lazzarini and the termination of the
\nagency’s work in Gaza after the war. A number of countries, including the US, Canada,
\nUK, Italy and Germany, have suspended all future funding the UNRWA. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click here for a roundup of local and world 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":[32089,29212,32942,35114,31085,28903,30687,116394,31488,116307,30256,29237,32363,29724,116395],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-612122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-drugs","tag-economy","tag-financial","tag-foodstuffs","tag-funding","tag-imf","tag-legislation","tag-mark-up","tag-mission","tag-palestinian","tag-prices","tag-refugees","tag-trafficking","tag-un","tag-unrwa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n