Press Review - September 13, 2018

09.13.2018 By Oana Gavrila

Three-Month Money Market Rate Remains Stable Around 3%

The three-month money market interest rate used to calculate interests for consumer loans in lei on Wednesday remained stable at Tuesday’s level of 3.1% a year, central bank data showed.

The six-month money market rate, which is used to calculate interests on leu-denominated mortgage loans, stayed put at 3.37% on Wednesday.

The nine-month interbank rate, which is used to calculate interests on loans in lei attracted by commercial banks from other commercial banks for a nine-month period, remained unchanged at 3.45% on Wednesday.

The twelve-month index rose slightly to 3.51% on Wednesday, from 3.50% on Tuesday.

Judicial Committee Chairman: A Pardoning Bill Is Filed With The Lower Chamber

Social Democrat MP Florin Iordache told MEDIAFAX on Wednesday that a bill to pardon sentences of up to five years in prison is currently filed with Romania's Lower Chamber, after being tacitly passed by the country's Senate in May.

Iordache, also chairman of the committee tasked with overhauling Romania’s judicial system, said that a debate on the bill was not currently scheduled.

The initiative was tacitly passed by the Romanian Senate on May 29, after its term for debate and vote expired on May 23.

In the form passed by the Senate, the bill stipulates full pardoning of all prison sentences of up to five years, and for half the sentence of pregnant women and single parents. These would not apply to those convicted as repeat offenders or who served prior prison sentences.

Senate Chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu said earlier Wednesday that a bill regarding amnesty was filed with the Parliament, but that no discussions were held in the ruling coalition on the subject.

Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader stated on Tuesday that the ministry has no project for such a measure, but that “lawmakers could be generous” in this regard taking into account that 2018 marks the centennial of the Great Union.

Senate Chairman Calls for Reparations for Prosecution Abuses

Senate Chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu said Wednesday there should be reparation measures in the form of amnesty or pardoning, considering the anticorruption department's “grave excess and abuse”.

He said a bill regarding amnesty was filed in Parliament but no discussions were held in the ruling coalition on the subject.

Tariceanu said it would be “wise” to issue a government emergency decree allowing the reopening of cases with final definitive rulings if those cases were “tainted” by secret service protocols.

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader stated on Tuesday that the ministry has no project for such a measure, but that “lawmakers could be generous” in this regard taking into account that 2018 marks the centennial of the Great Union.

Romanian Liberals to Campaign for Anti-Gay Referendum

Liberals supporting “traditional family values” will campaign in favor of a referendum seeking to redefine the term family on the Constitution, ruling out the possibility of same-sex marriage.

Liberal Party vice-president Raluca Turcan said Wednesday the party will be campaigning for the referendum.

The Senate on Tuesday passed a citizens' initiative to revise the definition of the family in the Romanian Constitution as based on the marriage between a man and a woman, which will be the subject of a future referendum.

The initiative, filed by the conservative/traditionalist group Coalition for Family, was approved with 107 votes for, 13 against and seven abstentions, reaching the necessary two-thirds threshold to trigger a referendum.