November 20, 2023 UPDATE

PENSIONS - In Romania, a new public pension bill was adopted on Monday. The bill was rushed through the Chamber of Deputies, the decision making body in this case, in just one day, being debated in the plenary for one hour. Last week, it was adopted by the Senate in a similar way.  Two increases are scheduled for in 2024 under the new law, namely, one by 13.8% as of January 1st, for all the approximately five million pensioners, and the second in September, based on a new calculation formula, which takes into account the seniority, the contribution or the value of the correction index, targeting, this time, approximately three million pensioners.

TOUR - Romania will further support the consolidation of the relationship between the European Union and the Republic of Cape Verde, President Klaus Iohannis said Monday after visiting the country's capital, Praia. In a joint press statement with President José Maria Neves, Iohannis specified that cooperation between Romania and the African state would be boosted, three bilateral documents being signed in the fields of education, healthcare and civil protection. Last Tuesday the Romanian president started a tour of Africa that included Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar - an autonomous territory belonging to Tanzania - and Senegal.

BUDGET - The drafting of the budget bill for 2024 by the Romanian Government is going to be finalized this week. The PSD-PNL coalition has already agreed that, along with funding investments, priority will be attached to education and healthcare, but it seems that even these ministries will not receive as much money as they would need, given the constraints related to the budget deficit. Moreover, there are more and more requests for money at the end of this year from the town halls and the Transport Ministry. The main resource for supporting the future budget will be the fight against tax evasion. The social democratic PM Marcel Ciolacu said that, by eliminating tax evasion, the necessary funds can be obtained for pension increases, education and healthcare.

TREASURY - The National Bank of Romania plans to stage a number of events to reaffirm, especially internationally, the fact that the country continues to claim its gold deposit, taken to Moscow during 1916-1917 and subsequently seized by the Soviet Union. Central Bank Governor, Mugur Isărescu, says that the bank has continuously carried out actions to recover the treasury, but that, at the level of European decision-makers, the problem of the Romanian treasury has remained largely unknown. Moreover, abroad, there are no works in international languages dedicated to this topic, while Romanian historians and legal experts did not address this issue outside the country's borders, Isarescu explained. 

FOOTBALL -  Qualified, mathematically, for the 2024 European Championship in Germany, the Romanian national football squad meets Switzerland, on Tuesday evening, in the last match of the Qualifying Group I. Undefeated, Romania occupies the first position, with 19 points, and can be the winner of the group if it does not lose the match with Switzerland, the team qualified for the 2024 European Championship. The Romanian footballers qualified after a 2-1 victory against Israel on Saturday. This will be the 6^th participation of the national team in the European Championship, after those in 1984, 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2016.

HANDBALL - The finalist of Romania’s Women’s Handball Cup, CSM Târgu Jiu (south) qualified, for the first time, in the groups of the EHF European League competition, after defeating the Swedish team Onnereds HK, with the score of 26-23, on Sunday, at home, in the second leg of the third preliminary round. HC Dunărea Brăila (south-east) also qualified on Sunday after defeating the German team BV Borussia 09 Dortmund, with the score of 27-22, at home. Another Romanian team that will play in the EHF European League groups is CS Gloria 2018 Bistriţa-Năsăud (north). In the Champions League groups, Romania is represented by the Bucharest teams CSM and Rapid. (EE)