July 25, 2017
Romanias domestic currency, the leu, will depreciate in the following 12 months. / The impact of Romanias purchasing Patriot missiles will be strong, says the US Ambassador to Romania.
Newsroom, 25.07.2017, 13:51
Statement — The impact of Romania’s purchasing Patriot missiles will be strong, contributing indirectly to the defense of the neighbouring states and of NATO, the US Ambassador to Romania, Hans Klemm, has said in an interview with the public television. According to Ambassador Klemm, there is no reason that this move should cause tensions with Russia, as the purpose is strictly defensive. Klemm has also said that the purchase of Patriot missile is part of Bucharest’s commitment to earmark 2% of the GDP for defesnse, a commitment that the US firmly supports. We remind you that a Pentagon agency, quoted by Reuters, announced that the US Department of State approved two weeks ago a possible sale of Patriot missiles to Romania, worth 3.9 billion dollars.
Poll – 1.1 million Romanians plan to leave the country in the following five years and 2 millions want to move to one of Romania’s big cities, according to an opinion poll mentioned in a report dubbed ”Magnet Cities” conducted by the World Bank. The report also says that Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara and Brasov are the most attractive cities for most people who want to move. Respondents in the urban area have said they want to move abroad, while people from rural areas want to move to cities in Romania. Also, most men want to go live abroad, while most women prefer to move somewhere in a Romanian city.
Ukraine — Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed on some urgent measures aimed at speeding up the process of finding a solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Berlin has announced, after leaders of the four countries discussed the issue over the phone. The talks were held a day after the US special envoy to the Ukraine peace talks, Kurt Volker, had said that Russian aggression is to blame for violence in eastern Ukraine, where people are dying in what should be seen as a “hot war” rather than a “frozen conflict”. Russia has been constantly denying all accusations. The conflict in Ukraine has made over 10 thousand victims in three years.
Depreciation — Romania’s domestic currency, the leu, will depreciate in the following 12 months to an average value of 4.6 lei/euro, while the inflation rate will stand at 2%, according to a release of the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA). In the month of June, CFA Romania’s macroeconomic confidence index went down as compared to the previous month, to 60 points. The CFA Macroeconomic Confidence Index was first released by CFA Society Romania in May 2011 and is an indicator that aims at quantifying anticipations of the financial analysts on economic activity in Romania. The Index can have values between 0, which means no confidence, and 100 points, which means complete confidence in the Romanian economy.
Football – This week, Romanian football teams are playing in European competitions. In the third preliminary round of the Champions League, Romania’s vice champion FCSB is taking on the Czech team Viktoria Plzen this evening in Bucharest, while on Wednesday Romania’s champion Viitorul Constanta is to play against Cyprus champions Apoel Nicosia at home, in Ovidiu. In the Europa League preliminaries, on Thursday in Bucharest Dinamo plays against Athletic Bilbao, while in Drobeta Turnu Severin CSU Craiova takes on the Italian side AC Milan.