December 23, 2013
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Ştefan Stoica, 23.12.2013, 12:14
The IMF believes a pack of measures is required, aimed at securing compensations for the revenues the state lost because of the delay in the increase of the excise levied on fuels, so that the budget deficit target may be met, standing at 2.2 % of the GDP, according to a press release made public on Monday by the IMF’s resident representative to Romania and Bulgaria, Guillermo Tolosa. The IMF high-ranking official went on to say that an IMF mission will travel to Bucharest in January to initiate talks with the authorities, targeting the merging of the first two evaluations of the stand-by agreement. We recall President Traian Basescu promulgated the budget for 2014, after the government decided to have a three months’ delay in the implementation of the 7 Eurocents excise levied on fuels. Basescu has contested the excise and has also been adamant in saying that maintaining the budget deficit target can also be achieved by other means.
Romania’s Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean is on an official visit to Israel until Thursday. High on the Romanian top-ranking official’s agenda are talks with President Shimon Peres, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with the country’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Talks will be focusing on the stage and prospects of the bilateral relations, mainly targeting the diversifications of the economic and sectoral cooperation, the latest evolutions in the Middle east as well as major issues at international level. According to the press in Tel Aviv, around one hundred thousand Romanian-born Jews live in Israel, among whom notable economic, cultural and even political personalities.
The Republic of Moldova’s Prime Minister Iurie leanca in Bucharest today, alongside Prime Minister Victor Ponta will be attending the Romanian government’s last session in 2013. Last week he earmarked a financial aid package standing at nearly 20 million euro for the country’s education system, The sum is part of a larger, non-reimbursable financial package accounting for 100 million euro. We recall that the Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet republic with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population, in late November sealed the association and free trade agreements with the European Union. Romania is the main supporter of neighboring Moldova’s European integration endeavor.
Romania’s Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu has presented the final version of the news basic medical services package, scheduled to take effect as of March 2014. According to Nicolaescu, the basic package includes emergency medical services, prevention services offered by the family physician, family planning consultations. A significant novelty of the draft is the resumption of the multidisciplinary consultations in ambulatory, so that patients with complex diseases can benefit from the assessment provided by several teams of specialists.
A religious and military ceremony has been held in Bucharest today, to commemorate the gendarme heroes who were killed in line of duty on the morning of December 23rd, 1989. This past Sunday Romania commemorated 24 years since the collapse of the communist regime. We recall 22 December 1989 was the day when Romanian became free. After the newsreel, we return with details on how commemorations took place, of those who were killed almost 25 years ago, during the anti-communist revolution.
