August 9, 2022

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 09.08.2022, 14:30

BANK Romania’s Central Bank (BNR) has changed its
inflation forecast for the end of this year to 13% and also estimates an
inflation rate of 7.5% for the end of next year, shows a report presented today
by the bank’s governor Mugur Isarescu. In May 2022, the bank forecast an
inflation rate of 12.5% for this year and 6.7% for 2023. According to the National
Institute for Statistics, the annual inflation rate stood at 15.1% in June this
year from 14.5% the previous month. Last Friday, the bank’s board of directors
decided to increase the policy interest rate to 5.5% a year from 4.75% starting
August 8.

TRADE Romania’s trade deficit went up to 15.44 billion
euros in the first six months of the year, 4.74 billion higher than in the
similar period last year, a report released by the National Institute for Statistics
on Tuesday shows. According to the same sources, exports rose by 24% while imports
went up by 28,5%. Romania’s exports and imports mainly consisted of machinery,
transport equipment and other manufactured products.

DROUGHT Roughly 243 thousand hectares of farmland in 30 Romanian counties have
been affected by drought, the latest data released by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development show. The surface affected has significantly grown
since last week with many grain crops destroyed by the scorching weather.

FESTIVAL The ‘Anonimul’ International Festival dedicated
to indie film productions kicked off on Monday in the Danube Delta, southern
Romania with ‘Mariupolis 2’ the last film by Lithuanian director Mantas
Kvedaravicius, who was captured by the Russian army and killed in the Ukrainian
region of Mariupol. The 19th edition of the festival includes two
contests of Romanian and international short-reels. 12 titles are vying for a
prize in the Romanian short-reel section, whereas 10 productions are to be
screened in the international section. Another 13 film productions are to be presented
during the festival whose winners will be decided by the public. The event also
includes a series of round table talks between film lovers and filmmakers.

PLAN The EU plan on the voluntary reduction of
natural gas demand by 15% comes into effect today. Almost half of the community
states have already been affected by reduced gas deliveries from Russia and
most of them started to take measures to curb consumption and store gas for the
winter season. Authorities in Germany, a country heavily relying on gas supplies
decided that warm water should no longer be available in public institutions,
while wells and parts of the public lighting have been shut down in several cities.
Doors must be closed in air conditioned rooms in France while Greece has
announced a 640 million Euro programme for renewing windows and air-conditioning
in state institutions. Although Romania hasn’t announced a national strategy on
reducing gas consumption yet, authorities here have recommended that citizens avoid
excessive gas consumption.

(bill)