June 6, 2025 UPDATE
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 06.06.2025, 20:08
DEFICIT Negotiations regarding the measures to be included in the future government’s program, aimed at curbing the budget deficit, are continuing at the Romanian Presidency. Experts from PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR are looking at a long list of proposals, but the final decision is expected to be announced on Monday evening, at the end of negotiations between president Nicuşor Dan and the leaders of the four pro-European parties in Parliament. In order to reduce the deficit to 7.5% of GDP, the state needs to come up with some €6 million.
EU The Republic of Moldova is firmly on its way to EU accession and its future is in the EU, the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath said in Chisinau on Friday. At a joint news conference with the Moldovan Justice Minister, Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, the EU official underlined that the rule of law, human rights and the fight against corruption are fundamental principles in this process. According to Radio Chisinau, Commissioner McGrath held talks with several officials from the Republic of Moldova on the reform of justice and European integration. The EU official has noticed the progress in the field of justice and the appointment of magistrates, and underlined that the EU will continue to offer technical and financial support – Radio Chisinau reports.
WEATHER Romania has hot weather in most of its territory. The Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) is expected to exceed 80 units in the country’s southern regions while showers have been forecast for the mountainous area. The highs of the day will be ranging between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius. More code yellow alerts for extremely hot weather and thermal discomfort have been issued for this weekend in almost the entire territory with a couple of exceptions, in the country’s south, south-east and east.
GDP Romania’s GDP stagnated in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the previous quarter, and compared to the same quarter of 2024. The GDP increase was 0.3%, according to provisional data from the National Statistics Institute, published on Friday. Construction, information and communications, real estate transactions contributed particularly to the GDP growth in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024. A negative contribution to GDP growth was recorded by industry.
IMF A team of experts from the International Monetary Fund on Friday published a set of recommendations for reforming Romania’s tax system and shifting the tax burden from taxing labor to taxing consumption and, to a lesser extent, capital. The institution estimates that, if fully implemented, these proposals could generate additional revenues of at least 1.2% of GDP in 2025. With regard to labor taxation, the IMF’s main recommendation is to move from a flat tax rate of 10% on labor income to a system with two tax rates, 15% and 25%, the latter applied to those with high incomes. Regarding the taxation of capital and property income, the IMF believes that the tax on dividends distributed to individuals should be increased from 8% to 10%, which would lead to an increase in revenues. When it comes to consumption taxes, IMF experts believe that the reduced VAT rates should be increased to the standard rate, except for basic food.
FOOTBALL Romania will be playing Austria in Vienna on Saturday in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Group H. On Tuesday, in Bucharest, the Romanian squad will be playing Cyprus. The qualifying campaign started in March, with the 0-1 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina at home. Then Romania defeated San Marino 5-1 away from home. Bosnia leads the group standings. Austria, the favorite to win the group, will debut in the match against Romania.
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