Number Of Beneficiaries Of Guaranteed Minimum Income Up 5.6% In 1Q
The number of families benefiting from the guaranteed minimum income rose 5.6% on the year in the first quarter of 2015, and the amount paid is higher by nearly RON10 million, according to a report of the Labor Ministry.
The guaranteed minimum income (GMI) consists in granting a monthly social aid calculated as a difference between the guaranteed minimum income, as provided by law, and the monthly net income of a family or a single person. The monthly average number of families as beneficiaries increased by 5.6%, to 255,213 in the first quarter of 2015, from 241,682 in the year-earlier period. In this context, the amount paid in the first three months of the year, of RON174,8 million, was higher by RON9,9 million, which translates into a 6% increase. (Adevarul)
Darian: All Sectors Of Romanian Real Estate Market On Upward Trend
The average price for old apartments stood at EUR674/square meter in the first six months, while on the new apartment segment, prices stood at EUR779/sqm, according to property evaluator Darian.
“The best sign of real estate market revival is given by the interest of new investors on the Romanian market, as well as by the return of those who already had projects in the country and “have been hibernating” lately. In the upcoming period, we expect a growth of property stock on all sectors of the real estate market,” a Darian study shows.
In 15 major cities (Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi, Constanta, Craiova, Galati, Brasov, Ploiesti, Oradea, Pitesti, Arad, Sibiu, Bacau and Targu Mures), old apartment prices remained stable at EUR754/sqm in the first half of the year, while in small towns, the prices were also stable at EUR570/sqm.
In the last 12 months, old apartment prices rose below 1%, while in the last six months, the price hike was at 0.1%. Compared to the start of the crisis in 2008, prices fell 40%. (Romania Libera)
Businessmen Association Says Public Procurement Bill Unclear
Romanian Businessmen Association, or AOAR, said that the new public procurement legislation is unclear and called for a period of public consultations until September 30.
According to AOAR, the Finance Ministry should publish the draft law’s substantiation note by then, because without it, businesspeople cannot figure out which are the targeted economic sectors.
Last week, the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham) also called for a period of public consultations of at least 30 days on the new public procurement legislation, from a ten-day period announced by the Finance Ministry and the National Agency for Public Procurement.
The Finance Ministry and the National Agency for Public Procurement published last week the draft law on public procurement, with a period of public consultations of 10 days, until August 1. (Puterea)
IMF Urges Romania To Reanalyze New Tax Code
Romania has made significant progresses over the last years as regards improving its controversial public finance, but its new Tax Code could jeopardize its achievements, trigger a budget deficit of at least 3% of the GDP in 2016 and boost its public debt.
These are the opinions of Andrea Schaechter, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Romania, and of Guillermo Tolosa, IMF representative for Romania and Bulgaria.
Schaechter and Tolosa believe that reanalyzing the new Tax Code in Parliament is an opportunity for Romania to establish its fiscal priorities on a medium term and rethink the proposed tax cuts. (Adevarul)
PNL Co-president Urges PM Ponta To Present Stage Of Negotiations With IMF, EC And WB
Alina Gorghiu, co-president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), asked Prime Minister Victor Ponta to make public his Cabinet’s actions regarding the negotiations with the international financial institutions as regards extending the lending agreement to keep the economic stability in Romania.
Gorghiu said she urged the Executive to unveil the stage of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission (EC) and the World Bank (WB) as regards extending the financing agreement.
“The agreement with the IMF, the EC and the World Bank expires in September, therefore, we are asking Victor Ponta or Liviu Dragnea, since we no longer know who is at the helm of the Social Democratic Party, to say whether the government set off negotiations with the IMF to extend the agreement. If talks already began, we want to know their current stage, and if nothing happened so far, we urge Ponta to start negotiations for a new agreement with all these institutions in order to maintain economic stability in Romania,” said Gorghiu, as quoted by Mediafax. (Puterea)