December 12, 2015 UPDATE

Moodys has improved Romanias rating from stable to positive/ The state budget bill for 2016 is being debated by the relevant parliamentary committees, with a final vote being expected in a plenary session of Parliament, next Wednesday.

Newsroom, 12.12.2015, 19:36

COUNTRY RATING– Moodys has changed the outlook on Romania’s Baa3 government ratings to positive from stable, a communiqué issued by the Romanian Finance Ministry on Saturday shows. According to the same source, the decision made by the agency reflects Romania’s significant progress in correcting its macroeconomic imbalances, reducing the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks and paving the way for robust economic growth. Moody’s forecasts Romania’s economic recovery to gain further momentum in 2016, thanks to a robust expansion of private consumption and investment as well as solid public consumption growth, which will allow real GDP growth to accelerate to 4.1% in 2016, from 3.5% in 2015. Moodys has also taken note of Romania’s sizeable fiscal adjustment in the recent past, leading to a significant reduction of the government’s fiscal deficit and contributing to a stabilization of the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio. In August, Fitch Ratings reconfirmed Romania’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘BBB-‘ and ‘BBB’, respectively, with a stable outlook.

DRAFT BUDGET-The President of the Social Democratic Party, the major parliamentary party in Romania, Liviu Dragnea, publicly called on Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos to announce until Tuesday, the moment when he estimates to increase the minimum wage per economy. Dragnea said he didnt agree with a sine die postponement of the pay-rise, proposed by the former left wing government. The Ciolos cabinet has announced an increase in the minimum wage from approximately 233 Euros to some 266 Euros cant be made in the absence of a survey meant to measure the impact of such a decision on the economy and the budget. The state budget bill for 2016 is being debated by the relevant parliamentary committees. A final vote is expected in a plenary session of Parliament, next Wednesday. The draft budget is based on a 4% growth rate and a maximum deficit of 3%.

CORRUPTION– Businessman Paul Lambrino has been placed under home arrest in a file on illegal return of property. He was taken into custody by the anti-corruption prosecutors on Friday. Lambrino, alongside other business people, among whom a well known journalist and political advisor, Dan Andronic, is accused of having set up a criminal group which allegedly brought a 136 million Euro prejudice to the Romanian state. A number of politicians are being investigated for involvement in cases of illegal return of property or illegal compensation granted by the National Authority for Property Restitution.

DRILLS– The Queen Marie Frigate of the Romanian Naval Forces is participating, until December the 16th, in a Black Sea military exercise, alongside ships from the US, Turkey and Ukraine. The action is part of a NATO package of measures designed to boost confidence among allies. The Queen Marie Frigate, with over 220 military onboard, the USS Ross US destroyer, a Turkish frigate and a Ukrainian auxiliary ship are making military exercises against multiple air, maritime and submarine threats, of imposing maritime embargo and surveillance of sea traffic. The drills are held in the context in which the security situation in the Black Sea area requires increased interoperability between the Romanian Naval Forces and the partner ones.

HANDBALL– The Romanian womens national handball team on Monday will face the defending world champions, Brazil, in the eighth finals of the World Championships in Denmark. The Romanian players on Friday lost their last Group D match to Russia, after having sustained defeat by reigning European and Olympic champions Norway and Spain, respectively. Romania has qualified for the eighth finals after outclassing Puerto Rico and Kazakhstan. Romania is the only country to have participated in all final tournaments of the World Championship since 1957. It boasts three medals on its record: gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005, respectively.