Romania Might Go Under Orange Code Alert For Floods
Romanian weather and water management authorities are considering issuing an orange code alert for floods following heavy rainfalls over the past days, said Minster-delegate for water management Lucia Varga.
Varga said heavy rainfalls might cause serious problems mainly in Bucharest, Constanta and Tulcea and smaller problems in the counties of Teleorman and Calarasi. (Curentul)
Unionists To Stage Protests Countrywide
Romanian unionists affiliated to union confederation Cartel Alfa are set to stage protests countrywide for an indefinite period in order to voice out their demands.
Unionists are displeased that the government is not having a real social dialog and fails to observe the commitments undertaken in the governing program. (Curentul)
Isarescu: Banks Have No Choice But To Cut Interest Rates
Romanian central bank governor Mugur Isarescu Monday said commercial lenders “will have no choice” but to reduce lending rates following the central bank’s monetary policy decisions over the last three months.
“In my opinion, they [the lenders] have no other choice,” Isarescu told a news brief after the central bank’s monetary policy meeting.
The central bank Monday cut its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% a year. So far this year, the bank has lowered its key rate by 1 percentage point in three steps, starting with July.
Isarescu said banks have significant room to reduce interest rates on leu-denominated loans, as the central bank’s monetary policy decisions have had a limited impact on the market so far.
“The decrease in loan rates has been definitely too small and it doesn’t reflect the monetary policy or the market conditions. The banks have no reason not to reduce interest rates,” he said.
The central bank’s chief said his institution will continue its monetary easing in the following period, albeit at a prudent pace. (Adevarul)
Basescu Says Ethnic Roma’s Presence In France Is Not At All Pleasant For Romania
President Traian Basescu has recently said the French people are much more upset about the “petty thefts” of ethnic Roma rather than the fact that “their own politicians are filling their pockets with billions.”
Basescu stressed it is outrageous that France keeps linking Romania’s Schengen accession to the presence of Romanian Roma in Paris.
The spokesperson for the French Government Najat Vallaud-Belkacem recently said that Romania and Bulgaria do not meet the conditions required to join the Schengen area. He added France is not the only country to consider Romania and Bulgaria do not meet the required conditions.
According to Journal du Dimanche, other opponents are the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain. (Gandul)