VISIT The PM
\nof Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, will be on an official visit to Rome on February
\n14-15, and will take part in the 3rd joint government meeting of Romania and
\nItaly, held 13 years after the previous inter-governmental summit. PM Ciolacu
\nwill have meetings with the PM of Italy, Georgia Meloni, and will attend a
\nmeeting of the 2 official delegations and the signing of bilateral documents. His
\nagenda also includes talks with the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and a
\nmeeting with the Romanian community in Italy. Italy is one of Romania’s most
\nimportant economic partners, and the Economic Forum focusing on areas such as IT&C,
\nenergy, the processing industry, infrastructure and the agri-food industry is
\nanother excellent opportunity to improve our economic cooperation, PM Marcel
\nCiolacu said. Marcel Ciolacu will also be received by His Holiness Pope Francis
\nat the Vatican.<\/p>\n
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INTERESTS The
\nNational Bank of Romania Tuesday decided to keep the monetary policy interest
\nrate at 7% per year, the institution announced. The central bank will also keep
\nthe credit facility interest rate at 8% per year and the deposit facility
\ninterest rate at 6% per year, and also maintain the current levels of the
\ncompulsory minimum reserve rates for banks’ national and foreign currency
\nliabilities. The key interest rate has not been changed since last January, when
\nthe National Bank decided to raise it from 6.75% to 7% per year. A balanced mix
\nof macroeconomic policies and structural reforms, including the use of EU
\nfunding to encourage the country’s growth potential in the long run, are vital
\nto maintaining macroeconomic stability and to strengthening the Romanian
\neconomy’s capacity to withstand negative developments, the institution said. An
\nupdated forecast by the central bank reconfirms the prospects of an increase of
\nthe annual inflation rate in the first months of this year, following the
\nincrease of existing indirect taxes and the introduction of new ones, and of a
\nsubsequent downward trend, at a slower pace than in 2023 and than originally
\nexpected. <\/p>\n
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CYBERSECURITY On Tuesday 4 more hospitals in
\nBucharest and elsewhere in the country were added to the list of 21 public and
\nprivate healthcare units affected since last weekend by a large-scale cyber
\nsecurity incident, the National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC) announced. A crypto
\ncurrency ransom demand has been received, amounting to approx. EUR 157,000, but
\nthe attackers only provided an email address, without disclosing the name of
\nthe group claiming the attack. Both the DNSC and other cyber security
\nauthorities involved urge the victims not to contact the perpetrators and not
\nto pay the ransom. The healthcare minister, Alexandru Rafila, has told Radio
\nRomania that some of the hospitals have managed to fix the problems, and the
\nauthorities will come up with a new technical standard designed to prevent such
\nactions. Other public institutions in Romania have been targeted by cyber-attacks
\nin the past.<\/p>\n
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FARMERS On
\nTuesday the European Commission officially endorsed a regulation which grants a
\npartial exemption for farmers from the rule binding them to keep 4% of their
\narable land fallow. In exchange, they are required to grow nitrogen fixing
\ncrops such as lentils or peas. The measure comes after large-scale farmer
\nprotests across the EU, including in Romania. Member States who wish to apply
\nthe derogation at national level need to notify the Commission within 15 days
\nof entry into force of the Regulation so that farmers can be informed as soon
\nas possible.<\/p>\n
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WRD World Radio Day was celebrated on Tuesday, and this year’s theme
\nwas A century of information, entertainment and education. To mark this
\ncelebration, Radio Romania’s stations broadcast interviews with journalists,
\nmedia experts, teachers, public figures and listeners, and their programmes
\nfeatured debates on the future of radio and broadcasts from the European
\nBroadcasting Union. The UNESCO declaration on World Radio Day, entitled Radio,
\nthe Trusted Guide in a Changing World, can be found on the websites of all
\nRadio Romania’s stations.<\/p>\n
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WRESTLING The
\nRomanian athlete Denis Florin Mihai won the bronze in the Greco-Roman style 55
\nkilo category of the European Wrestling Championship in Bucharest on Tuesday, after
\ndefeating Georgia’s Nugzari Tsurtsumia. Mihai ranks 4th in the world
\nstandings and was the bronze winner in last year’s European Championships. Romania
\ntakes part in the event in Bucharest with 30 athletes, 10 in each style.<\/p>\n
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POLO Romania’s men’s water polo team will play for the 9th
\nplace at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, after defeating China 9-7 on Tuesday. In
\nthe match for the 9th and 10th places, scheduled on
\nFebruary 15, Romania takes on the USA. Romania finished 8th last
\nmonth in the European Championships held in Croatia, and the team’s best performance
\nto date at a World Championship is a 5th place in 1975. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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