July 12, 2022
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Newsroom, 12.07.2022, 13:55
FISCAL CODE Consultations continue in Bucharest between the authorities,
trade unions and employers’ associations, after representatives of the business
community, trade unions and local authorities voiced discontent with the
changes the government intends to operate on the Fiscal Code. During the talks held on Monday with PM Nicolae Ciucă and the finance
minister Adrian Câciu, they requested, among other things, a postponement to
next year of the measures that the government plans to introduce as of August 1.
These include the increase in alcohol excise duties, the lower ceiling for tax
facilities in the constructions sector and the idea that part-time employees
should pay social contributions corresponding to the national minimum wage.
INFLATION The year-on-year inflation rate reached 15.1% in June, as
against 14.5% in May, the National Statistics Institute announced today. According
to the institution, non-foodstuff prices went up nearly 18%, food prices rose
by roughly 15% and the price of services also increased by some 8%. The
National Bank of Romania adjusted its inflation forecast to 12.5% for the end
of this year and to 6.7% for the end of 2023.
COVID Starting today, COVID-19 updates will be released on a daily basis
in Romania rather than weekly, after a steep rise in the number of cases,
accounting for a doubling of new infection numbers every 7 days. On Tuesday the
authorities announced over 4,000 people tested positive in 24 hours, out of
over 21,000 tests conducted. Nine COVID-related deaths were also reported, all
of them in patients suffering from prior conditions. The number of hospitalised
COVID patients is 1,361, with 90 patients in intensive care. According to
experts, the new Omicron sub-variant that causes the current infection wave
around the world, and which has also been identified in Romania, affects the
protection provided both by the vaccine and by natural immunisation, but it
generally seems to cause milder forms of the disease. The health minister
Alexandru Rafila announced that prevention measures remain in place, especially
face covering and physical distancing. COVID-19 vaccines are still recommended
by the authorities, particularly to vulnerable categories.
PARTNERSHIP Romaniahas no better friend than the US, the US secretary of state
Antony Blinken said on the celebration of 25 years since the launch of the
Strategic Partnership between Washington and Bucharest. In turn, former US
ambassadors to Bucharest state in a letter that the strategic partnership with
Romania has proved to be one of the best investments in Europe for the US. They
also say that Romania plays a decisive part in the defence and strengthening of
NATO’s eastern flank and in consolidating stability and security at the Black
Sea.
REFUGEES Over the past 24 hours around 226,800 people have crossed the
border in and out of Romania, the Romanian Border Police Inspectorate announced.
Of these, over 22,000 are Ukrainian nationals who came into Romania via various
checkpoints. Since the start of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, more than 1.5
million Ukrainian citizens have crossed the border into Romania.
VISIT The head of the European Public
Prosecutor’s Office, Laura Codruţa Kovesi,
is on an official visit to the R. of Moldova until 14 July. The European
official will have meetings with Moldovan authorities. Moldova’s president Maia
Sandu, who had a meeting with Laura Codruţa Kovesi in January 2021 in Brussels,
expressed at that time her willingness to work together with the European
institution to encourage the country’s reforms in the judiciary. Experts in
Chişinău note that Codruţa Kovesi’s visit takes place after Moldova was recently
granted the EU candidate status, and that Brussels would like to make sure that
Moldova stays on a predictable path. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office
became operational on 1 June 2021, and is in charge with investigating and
prosecuting offences against the EU budget. (AMP)
