November 5, 2013 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 05.11.2013, 19:49
ROMANIA- EU – The European Commission says Romania’s economy will go up by 2.1% next year and by 2.4% in 2015, with the domestic demand also going up, according to the EC autumn forecast made public in Brussels on Tuesday. Moreover, the EC is expecting a drop in the inflation rate next year to 2.5% and a budget deficit of 2% of the GDP. The domestic demand in 2014 will be a growth engine for the Romanian economy, even more important than exports. Unemployment levels will continue to stand at 7% over the next two years, according to the European Commission.
ROMANIA – IMF – The programme with Romania is within parameters and all criteria having end-of-September as deadline have been met, chief of the IMF delegation in Bucharest, Andrea Schaechter, has said at the end of the first assessment mission of the new precautionary agreement with Romania. Andrea Schaechter has pointed pout that the economic forecast for 2013 has been revised upwards by 0.2 percent, to 2.2%. The domestic demand, however, keeps being low. The IMF forecast for 2014 indicates a current account deficit of 1.8%. Key measures announced by the government to reach the target deficit include an increase in fuel excise duties and taxes on special constructions, says Andrea Schaechter. The agreement signed with Romania for a 2-year period is worth about 2 billion euros, while another 2 billions come from the European Commission.
ROMANIA- MOLDOVA– The Joint Commission for European Integration of the Moldovan and Romanian Parliaments pointed out, Tuesday, in Chisinau, in a joint final declaration, the importance of the Eastern Partnership summit for the Republic of Moldova. The summit will take place this month in Vilnius. The declaration reiterates Romania’s support for Moldova in achieving its most important goal in 2014, namely signing the EU Association Agreement. The joint commission was set up in 2010 and is meant to support the Republic of Moldova in its European integration process.
BANKING— The National Bank of Romania on Tuesday reduced the monetary policy interest rate to a historic level of 4%. The decision of the bank’s board will come into force on November 6th 2013. The national bank governor, Mugur Isarescu, said that there is room for relaxation in terms of monetary policy, if the definition of the monetary policy is taken into account. Previously the monetary policy interest rate stood at 4.25%.
SHALE GAS – On Tuesday Ukraine signed a shale gas exploitation agreement with the American company Chevron, which stipulates sharing of production between the two sides. Chevron will invest 10 billion dollars in hydrocarbons exploration and production in Ukraine. For several years Kiev has unsuccessfully tried to obtain from Russia a cut in the natural gas price. According to Ukrainian officials, shale gas exploitation will bring the country energy independence. We recall that in Romania, the shale gas exploitation project by Chevron has been facing tough opposition from ecologists and local communities.
EURO ZONE — The European Commission has lowered economic growth predictions in the euro zone and underlined that the unemployment rate remained high. The EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Ollie Rehn, said there were signs showing that the euro zone economy reached a turning point. The European Commissioner insisted that it was much too early to declare victory over the economic crisis. According to the BBC the latest economic forecasts maintain the economic growth pace for 2014 after recession was reported in 2013, but the 1.1% growth rate is still very low.
