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MEETING The Liberal government in Bucharest is to convene in a new meeting on Thursday after senators on Wednesday endorsed the postponement to January 1st 2022 of the date when magistrates can take early retirement. Also on that date, panels of judges in lower courts would go from two to three. The Senate is a decision maker in this case. The joint permanent bureaus of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate earlier decided that the joint meeting for the Executive to assume responsibility for these laws take place on Thursday. The documents are dealing with the postponement of the magistrates' early retirement, with repealing an ordinance regulating road transportation in Romania, as well as some measures aimed at regulating student transportation and setting budget ceilings.
INFLATION Romania's annual inflation rate rose to 3.8% in November 2019 from 3.4% in October, against the background of price hikes in food and non-food products and service, data published on Wednesday by the National Institute for Statistics shows. The National Bank of Romania lowered to 3.8% its inflation rate forecast for the end of 2019 and estimates an inflation rate of 3.1% for the end of 2020. In turn, the IMF revised up its estimates for consumption prices in Romania this year up to an annual average growth of 4.2% as against 3.3% estimated in spring.
OLYMPIAD Romania's junior team has reaped two gold and four silver medals in the 16th edition of the International Science Olympiad held in Doha (Qatar) over December 3rd and 12th. The participants in the aforementioned competition competed in three events, two individual theory contests and one, which involved team work on experiments in chemistry, physics and biology. This year's edition of the competition in Doha has brought together 400 students from 70 countries.
RATING Standard and Poor's (S&P) has revised down Romania's outlook from stable to negative, due to the deficit increase, affirming their 'BBB-/A-3' ratings for the long and short term debt in hard currency and the local currency. The large spending deviations by the previous Social Democratic government have forced Romania's current leadership to revise up its fiscal targets for 2019 and 2020, against the backdrop of a slowing economy, S&P shows. According to the S&P report, the planned wage and pension increases will contribute to a widening of Romania's already substantial current account deficit through 2020. Although the agency expects significant fiscal consolidation to commence next year, the rigid budget structure and volatile policy environment pose risks to that assumption. Also S&P warns that it might lower its ratings on Romania within the next 24 months if fiscal and external imbalances continue to deteriorate and persist for longer than the agency currently anticipates.
PRICE HIKES Due to swine fever and the increase in import prices, the price of pork meat has doubled in 2019 and it might triple in early 2020, says the president of the Romanian Meat Association, Radu Timis. He has however given assurances that for the winter holidays Romanians will find pork meat in shops. Radu Timis believes that next year half of the companies processing pork in Europe will disappear. In turn, the National Sanitary, Veterinary and Food Safety Authority has given assurances that it will draft a new strategy for fighting and controlling African swine fever, that will have to be assumed by all institutions involved and also by farmers and the line industry.
(translated by bill)
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