3 December, 2014

News and current affairs from Romania

România Internațional, 03.12.2014, 11:59

The Romanian delegate minister for budget, Darius Valcov, said that the Romanian side will not propose any new taxes while negotiating with the IMF and European Commission. The joint expert mission is in Bucharest until December 10, discussing with the Romanian authorities the budget for 2015. In the meantime, the government announced one last adjustment for this year. More after the news.

Romania had 1.8% economic growth in this third quarter as opposed to the previous one, and in the first nine months the GDP growth was 2.8%, according to preliminary data from the national statistics institution. The most important contributor to this growth before September 30, as contrasted with that same period in 2013, was industry, with 30.3% of the GDP, followed by IT and telecom, with 5.2%. Construction, financial management and insurance were a drag on GDP growth, as the data for November showed that the Romanian economy was in technical recession, with GDP growth up only 0.5%.

Romania ranks 69th, just as last year, in the ranking of countries according to perceived corruption, the lowest ranking in the EU. This annual report issued by Transparency International ranks Romanian on a par with Brazil, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Senegal. The countries with the worst perceived corruption in the world are Sudan, North Korea and Somalia, while Denmark, New Zealand and Finland are considered the least corrupt. The phenomenon of corruption is seen as rising in China, Turkey and other countries with strong economic growth.

Brussels hosts the first meeting of the international coalition combating the self-dubbed Islamic State. Foreign ministers of member countries are discussing the policy and military strategy related to the issue, as well as the problem of foreign fighters joining Jihadists in Syria and Iraq. Another important point on the agenda is humanitarian aid for refugees. Romania, who is a member of the coalition without military participation, is represented by its foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu,

Romania is among the countries with the most expensive gasoline in the world, according to Bloomberg, which looked at the price of car fuel in 61 states, based on average pricing and daily average spending for a gallon of gasoline. Romanian ranks 30th in the standings, ranking 11th in terms of purchasing power. The country with the most expensive gasoline is Norway, with almost 2 Euro per liter, while Venezuela has the cheapest, one cent per liter. Countries with less expensive gasoline than Romania are Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary.