November 6, 2018 UPDATE

An IMF mission in Bucharest assesses the country's economic and financial situation

Newsroom, 06.11.2018, 19:16

QATAR – Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila who is heading a Romanian delegation to a three-day official visit to Qatar had talks on Tuesday with Sheik Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Tahani, who is the country’s Prime Minister. The Romanian official evoked the important celebrations taking place in both countries this year, namely the anniversary of 140 years since the establishment of the state of Qatar and the celebration of 100 years since the Romanian modern state was formed.

MEETING – Federico Cafiero De Raho, Italy’s national anti-mafia prosecutor, met in Bucharest with Felix Banila, the chief prosecutor of the Romanian Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT). The purpose of the meeting was to set the priorities for the drawing up of a joint cross-border anti-mafia strategy. The meeting took place following the signing of a cooperation accord in Rome in December 2012. The next meeting will be held in the spring of 2019 in Italy.

EU – Romania supports the idea of a common solution at EU level as regards the taxation of digital services, and not individual solutions applied by each member state, Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said on Tuesday at the EU’s Council for Economic and Financial Affairs in Brussels. Teodorovici explained that different measures taken by member states might lead to a fragmentation of the domestic market. While proposals have been thoroughly discussed at technical level and progress has been achieved on a number of issues such as definitions, tax collection, and administrative cooperation, there are still differences between member states on several issues, including the precise scope of services which would be subject to the future tax. There will be further work at technical level in order to be able to reach an agreement at the Council meeting on 4 December.

INFLATION – Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu said Tuesday that the annual inflation rate will continue its downward trend in the upcoming months. Also, according to preliminary data from the Central Bank the annual inflation rate will go down to the level of 3.5%, Isarescu said at a press conference. He also said that the inflation rate is influenced by the evolution of the price of fuel, gas and electricity, food products and tobacco, the labor market conditions and the fiscal policy.

PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Tuesday he would not take any decision as regards the request for the dismissal of the country’s Prosecutor General, Augustin Lazar, until the appeal that the latter filed is solved. Augustin Lazar required, in Court, the suspension of the procedure for his revocation, initiated by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, and filed a complaint with the Justice Ministry against the evaluation report drawn up by Minister Toader.

IMF – An IMF delegation, led by the head of the mission for Romania Jaewoo Lee is in Bucharest over November 6th – 12th. The team is assessing the countrys latest economic and financial developments and holds talks on the 2019 budget. At present, Romania is not running an agreement with the IMF but this financial institution is yearly assessing the evolution of the Romanian economy. Talks are compulsory for all member states as they are aimed at issuing monetary, financial and economic guidelines, which enables a country to obtain stability and a positive economic development.

DEFENCE – Romanias Chief of Staff, General Nicolae Ciuca is paying a working visit to Greece starting on Tuesday. The agenda of the talks the Romanian official is going to have with his Greek counterpart includes issues such as the way in which Romania and Greece may contribute to strengthening security on the Alliances eastern flank. Concrete ways of cooperation between the armies of the two NATO allies are also to be discussed at both bilateral and regional levels.

VISIT The mayor of Bucharest Gabriela Firea is continuing her visit to Madrid where she will sign a cooperation agreement with her Spanish counterpart Manuela Carmela Castrillo. The agreement will include several domains, such as sustainable development, infrastructure, education, culture and tourism. On Monday, mayor Firea participated in an international forum, which brought together experts and mayors from 300 cities the world over, which focused on preventing city violence. During her visit, Firea will have a series of meetings with Spanish experts on smart-city and infrastructure as well as with representatives of companies specialized in urban planning.