Videoconference of Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis attended a videoconference on Thursday concerning issues related to the country’s fight against coronavirus pandemic. Participants in the meeting at 1 PM included the country’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Interior Minister Marcel Vela, Health Minister Nelu Tătaru, and Raed Arafat, head of Romania’s Emergency Department. Prefects of Romanian communities also attended the event in an attempt aimed at easing the current health crisis. „I expect you all – in Prefectures, Police and Gendarmerie – to show resolve. You must be firm as these are not political measures designed to show our political will. These are genuine public health measures at a time when lives of Romanians are at stake”, President Iohannis told participants. „I know that such measures are deeply unpopular, and it is easy to understand that nobody is happy with them. But these are measures we discussed with experts, and everyone was convinced that without such measures we could not move forward in our efforts to end the crisis”, Mr. Iohannis pointed out.
New BNR rulings on monetary policy
The board of Romania’s National Bank (BNR) released new rulings concerning its monetary policy on Thursday. BNR decided to maintain its annual policy rate at 1.50 percent while keeping its annual deposit facility rate at 1.00 percent. The annual lending rate is expected to hit 2.00 percent. BNR also decided to cut its minimum reserve requirement ratio on hard currency-denominated liabilities of credit institutions to 5 percent from a previous 6 percent between November 24 – December 23, 2020 while also preserving the minimum reserve requirement ratio on RON-denominated liabilities at 8 percent.
Romania’s COVID-19 updates
Romania reported 10,142 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to data issuned by the country’s Strategic Communication Group (GCS) on Thursday. The number of pacients under intensive care hit 1,152 while 121 people died (77 men, 44 women) raising the total to 8,510 deaths since the start of the pandemic early this year. Romanian health care workers raised a protest outside the government headquarters at Victoria Plaza in the capital Bucharest on Tuesday. Protesters blamed the government for not living up to their promises of help. Romania introduced tighter measures this week after COVID-19 cases soared in the country.
Alexandru Danga
