Romanian President Participates In European Council Summit In Brussels
Romania’s President Traian Basescu will be in Brussels Thursday and Friday where he will participate in the European Council’s summer summit.
Basescu will arrive in Brussels Thursday and will hold a news conference Friday, after the end of the reunion, the Presidency said in a press release. (Adevarul)
Romania’s Chamber Of Deputies Approves Purchase Of 12 F-16 Fighter Jets
Romania’s Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill whereby the country will buy 12 F-16 fighter jets.
MPs also adopted a bill freeing some military radio frequencies to secure the first tranche needed to buy the jets, amounting to EUR97 million.
Romania’s government approved last week a bill on the acquisition of 12 used F-16 fighter jets from Portugal for EUR628 million to be paid in 2013-2017.
Defense Minister Mircea Dusa said the used fighter jets will be modernized. The first jets will be delivered to Romania starting 2015. (Curentul)
IMF Approves Last Two Reviews Of Deal With Romania
The International Monetary Fund’s Board on Wednesday approved the last two reviews of a stand-by loan agreement with Romania and the letter of intent sent by the Romanian government.
Romania and the IMF have signed a two-year EUR3.6 billion loan agreement in 2011, successor to a larger EUR13 billion deal secured in 2009. The deal is supplemented by a EUR1.4 billion loan from the EU and another EUR1 billion from the World Bank.
The program was initially due for completion in April this year, but the government has requested a three-month extension to meet a series of IMF requirements, including the privatization of state-run freight rail company CFR Marfa. (Gandul)
Natural Gas Prices In Romania 8% Higher Starting July 1
Natural gas in Romania will be 8% more expensive starting July 1, while the prices of meat and dairy products might increase by up to 15% this year.
Players in the food industry say drought might increase the price of fodder, which will lead to higher food prices.
Production costs represent one third of the price of a kilogram of meat, they say. (Curentul)
Romanian Economy Unable To Create New Jobs
Romanian investments fell 20% in the first five months of the year, while staff costs increased 19.5%.
Foreign investments on the local market dropped 35% in January-May.
Instead of investing funds in infrastructure, the Romania’s Government decided to increase pensions and raise public wages.
The country has introduced new taxes or increased the level of older ones over the past two years, which encumbers the economy. (Evenimentul Zilei)