August 9, 2023
A roundup of domestic news
Newsroom, 09.08.2023, 13:55
Coalition – The Liberal leader, Nicolae Ciucă, rules out the possibility of breaking the governing coalition or triggering early elections. He says that together with the social democrats, solutions will be found so that the tax reform should not involve new taxes for companies. The clarifications come after new discussions with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu about the reforms prepared by the government through an emergency ordinance in the administration and fiscal domains. The Prime Minister, leader of the Social Democratic Party – PSD, said that these discussions are taking place with his mandate on the table, and he will not hesitate to resign if the Liberal Party withdraws its support for this package of measures aimed at maintaining the budget deficit within the limits agreed upon with the European experts. New consultations between the coalition partners are announced for these days. The draft emergency ordinance regarding the elimination of some fiscal facilities and the modification of some taxes is still under debate. The measures aim, among others, at increasing taxes for small and medium-sized enterprises, changing the VAT or taxing the salaries of programmers who exceed a monthly income of 10,000 lei (approx. 2,000 Euros). The goal is to increase revenues to the state budget and comply with the commitments assumed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The representatives of IT companies criticize the proposed fiscal measures and claim that they would seriously affect this field. They state that some companies are already analyzing the possibility of moving their businesses to nearby countries.
BNR – The National Bank of Romania (BNR) has revised upward the inflation forecast for the end of this year to 7.5% and to 4.4% for the end of 2024, according to the data presented on Wednesday by the governor of the BNR, Mugur Isărescu. The Central Bank estimated, in May 2023, an inflation rate of 7.1% for the end of 2023. Mugur Isărescu pointed out that only some increased taxes lead to an increase in inflation, namely the direct taxes on consumption, the excise taxes and VAT taxes. Ample uncertainties are mentioned regarding the projected trajectory in the context of the likely adoption of some fiscal correction measures to boost budget revenues, which are likely to have a direct impact on inflation, such as increases in indirect taxes — the VAT and excises.
Statistics – The trade balance deficit in the first half of this year was 13.3 billion Euros, lower by 2.1 billion Euros (-13.9%) than the one recorded between January 1 and June 30, 2022, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) announced today. In the first six months of this year, exports totaled 47.4 billion Euros, recording an advance of 5.9%, and imports totaled 60.7 billion Euros, increasing by 0.8% compared to the same period of 2022. According to the INS, between January 1 and June 30, 2023, machinery and transport equipment (45.1% for export and 36.3% for import) and other products manufactured goods (30.2% for export and 28.8% for import) held important shares in the structure of exports and imports.
Night of the Museums – The Night of Museums in the Villages, a new Romanian national cultural event, will take place, for the first time, this year, on September 2, with Radio Romania Regional being a partner of the event. The number of institutions participating in this first edition has so far reached 79, from 27 counties. The registration session is open until August 15, and the goal of the organizers is to reach 100 institutions. On the occasion of this first edition of the Night of Museums in the Villages, the National Network of Museums in Romania will launch a national support campaign for the development of educational programs for children and young people from rural communities, by exploiting the collections and cultural heritage they own.
August 10 – The General Prosecutors Office of Romania has announced that it has taken legal action against the former leadership of the Gendarmerie for the way in which they coordinated the law enforcement’s intervention at the anti-government rally of the diaspora on August 10, 2018, in Bucharest. The former leadership is mainly accused of abuse of office and abusive behavior. The prosecutors specify that the gendarmes acted not only against the people who demonstrated violently, but also against the peaceful demonstrators who represented the vast majority of the protesters. More than 300 participants in the protest are demanding moral and material damages in this case. (LS)
