January 13, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 13.01.2024, 19:13

Protests. Farmers and the agriculture
minister Florin Barbu reached an agreement during talks on Saturday. Farmers,
who have staged protests in recent days, demanded higher subsidies and agreed
on legislative changes allowing them to drive agricultural machinery using their
car driving permits. Transporters have also staged protests on the Bucharest
ring road and across the country. At a meeting with prime minister Marcel
Ciolacu on Friday, they presented a list of 40 demands, including concrete
solutions to the problems faced, mainly the rising cost of insurance policies
and of fuel. Farmers have also called on the government to help them cope with the
unfair competition posed by grain imports from Ukraine, saying they are yet to
receive their state subsidies and that they have debts to the banks. The
government has proposed a timetable for talks, which are due to continue.

Defence. Romania’s contribution to
the US’s shaping of its Black Sea strategy will be a priority in the coming
period, said the Romanian defence minister Angel Tîlvăr during talks with the
US ambassador in Bucharest Kathleen Kavalec. According to a defence ministry
statement, the two officials discussed the main aspects of bilateral political
and military cooperation this year, with an emphasis on the impact of Russia’s
war of aggression against Ukraine. Romania is ranked 47th in the
world’s most powerful armies, according to the Global Firepower ranking, a good
position at regional level. Romania is led by Poland, but is ahead of Hungary
and Serbia. Ukraine is in the top 20 of most powerful armies in the world this
year.

Award. The president of the Republic
of Moldova on Saturday received the Timişoara for European values award from
this city in western Romania. Maia Sandu is the first recipient of this
distinction which is to honour international public figures who promote or
defend European values. In her speech before several hundred people, Maia Sandu
said the award represents not so much a personal recognition, but the
appreciation for how the citizens of Moldova are defending their right to live
in peace, freedom and democracy. She emphasised that Russia’s aggression
against Ukraine showed that democracy can be fragile and that European and
human values can be trampled on. She also reiterated that Moldova is determined
to pursue its European path. The jury recognises the immense efforts the
recipient made to put Moldova on course for Europe. Just like Moldova needs the
European Union, so Europe needs Moldova, said the mayor of Timişoara Dominic
Fritz in his speech.

Interest rate. The National Bank of
Romania has decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 7% per
year, as it expects the inflationist pressure to remain high, especially in the
first part of the year. The key interest rate, which influences all types of
financial contracts, has been unchanged for the last year. The interest rate
levels at which commercial banks can borrow from the National Bank or which
they receive for their National Bank deposits have also been maintained.
According to the latest assessments, the annual inflation rate is to go up in
the first month of the year, as a result of the increase in and introduction of
indirect taxes and duties from January aimed at consolidating the budget, but
will again start to go down gradually, albeit at a slower pace than expected in
the previous forecast. (CM)