Press Review - November 3, 2017

11.03.2017 By Oana Gavrila

President Criticizes Government's Tax Plans

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday criticized the government's proposed tax measures, warning their implementation would muddle the country's finances and hinder sustainable economic growth.

"A few months ago, when this government was sworn in, I had a simple and clear request. I appealed to them to stop the fiscal-budgetary hopping. They did not,” said Iohannis.

He said Romania is going through a period of economic growth, the highest in the European Union, which is good news except it is based solely on consumption and it is not sustainable.

“The lack of investments is of concern and it's not just private investments, which have declined 20% in the first half of the year, but also public investments, which play a major role in stabilizing the economy and which have dropped by more than 20%,” he said.

Despite having the fastest growing economy in the EU, the country's tax collections have fallen to a historic low of 25% of GDP. (puterea.ro)

Romania Raises 2017 Economic Growth Forecast to 6.1% of GDP

Romania's National Forecast Commission has revised the country's economic growth projection for this year to 6.1% from 5.6%.

The fall prognosis sees the country's gross domestic product at RON842.5 billion, from a previous estimate of RON837.1 billion.

Household consumption is seen growing 8.5% this year, from a previous estimate of 7.9%.

Recently, the International Monetary Fund revised its economic growth projection for Romania, to 5.5% from 4.2%.

The World Bank said in a recent report it expects the Romanian economy to grow 5.5% this year. (puterea.ro)

Iasi Could Be The Next Cluj

If it keeps developing at the same rate, the northeastern Romanian city of Iasi could become one of the country's major economic centers.

Nearly 369,000 people lived in Iasi officially at the beginning of the year, 10% higher than at the beginning of 2012. During the same period, the population of Cluj increased 0.5%, while in Brasov, Galati, and Timisoara, population numbers dropped nearly 1%, Constanta and Craiova dropped 2%, and Bucharest lost 2.5% of its denizens.

GDP per capita in Iasi county is seen at EUR7,166 by the National Forecast Commission, higher than the EUR4,200-5,300 GDP per capita in neighboring counties. (capital.ro)

Farmers Protest Wildlife Attacks in Comarnic

Farmers will stage a protest Friday in Comarnic, central Romania, after wildlife caused damages in their households and killed livestock.

Over 50 local farmers are expected to attend and bring 500 sheep to the rally.

Locals have had 19 bear attacks over the summer and lost 50 household animals to wildlife. In one case, one person was injured.(cotidianul.ro)