July 10, 2014
A look at some of the top stories in Romania today.
România Internațional, 10.07.2014, 11:01
Romania’s president Traian Basescu says he will not sign into law the bill on the 5% reduction in social security contributions for employers as of October 1st, a bill recently passed by Parliament. The president argues this measure would affect macroeconomic parameters and the country’s relationship with its international lenders. The business community has welcomed the reduction of social security contributions for employers, but the Tax Council, the advisory body for policies in this field, has given a negative opinion on the measure.
Romania has come a long way in its almost 25 years of democracy but must continue efforts in terms of combating corruption, the transparency of state companies and party funding, writes a report by the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington. The study writes that Romania has reached a “tipping point” in its post-1989 transition — “a moment of latent potential, which if seized with energetic and persistent policies, could lead to measurable improvements” in the country’s economic performance and the well-being of its citizens. The authors of the report, European and American experts involved in projects in Romania since 1990, believe Romania should focus its efforts on three areas of interest, namely the rule of law, governance, in particular public management, and political reform.
The inflation rate has dropped in June by 0.66% compared to May, which is a new all-time low, according to the latest data published today by the National Institute for Statistics. In June, consumer prices dropped by an average of 0.3% a decrease in prices for food and services by 0.7 and 0.2%, respectively.
The Romanian businessman and founder of the Conservative Party, in the government, Dan Voiculescu, is still under investigation for extortion, despite an appeal to the contrary before the Bucharest Tribunal. Prosecutors accuse Voiculescu of threatening three business people to launch an aggressive public campaign to destroy their reputation unless they sign advertising deals with his influential media trust. Voiculescu rejected the allegations, saying he never met the people in question. He has also been on trial since 2008 in a case concerning the illegal privatisation of the Institute for Food Research in Bucharest, which resulted in losses of 60 million euros.
The Romanian tennis player and world no. 3 Simona Halep today meets Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia in the second round of the BRD Bucharest Open worth 250,000 dollars in prize money, the first WTA tournament to be held in Romania. Also in the second round, another Romanian player, Monica Niculescu, defeated Elitsa Kostova of Bulgaria in two sets. In Friday’s quarterfinals, she will play against Polona Hercog of Slovenia. Halep and Niculescu are the only Romanian players still in the competition.
