Financial Press Review 14 June

Short-term perspectives of the economy, the unequal access of the population to health services and the administrative-territorial reform were some of the topics covered in the economic press.

Under the heading ‘Is employment resumed after three years of waiting?’ the Curierul Naţional published an article in which read:‘Although the employment slightly increased in the first quarter of this year, it is also likely to increase in the third quarter.’

The article, based on a study by the Manpower company, revealed that ‘the number of employers with plans that involved supplementing the current number of employees was larger than the number of those that still considered restructuring.’

‘This time the estimates regarding the employment were the highest of that last three years in Romania, the Ziarul Financiar also noted under the heading ‘The most optimistic plans at the beginning of the crisis, one quarter of Romanian companies are hiring in the coming period.’

The same newspaper published an article entitled ‘NBR caught between hammer and anvil: to support economic recovery, but also to reduce inflation.’

The economic recovery is fragile, the newspaper pointed out by noting that ‘if in the first quarter, the economy had an added 0.7 percent, the questions about the second quarter began to emerge’ and ‘consumption marked time.’

One way to stimulate the economy would be ‘using the state guarantees for infrastructure projects that can no longer be postponed’, the former Finance Minister Sebastian Vlădescu said quoted by the Ziarul Financiar in an article entitled ‘Vlădescu: we can only stimulate growth through deficit.’The Curierul Naţional opened with an article entitled ‘How equal is Romanians’ access to health?’ ‘All the Romanians who had a job were required to pay the state contribution for health (...) but the Romanians’ access to health is not at all equal.’

‘There is a clear distinction between medical services in rural and urban systems and even between those from small towns and large cities’ and ‘between those who can afford to pay and those who can not afford it.’

‘Two thirds of the population had almost no chance of a diagnosis and appropriate treatment. The average of 65 percent consumed only 20 percent of the total amount of drugs.’

‘The Romanians would be willing to pay to have access to better services, but for this to happen (...) there should be completed the minimum package of health services which has been highly discussed for several years’, the Curierul Naţional wrote.

The Ziarul Financiar published an article on ‘What business people said about the proposal of President Basescu supported by PDL about Romania’s administrative-territorial change.

If it leads to lower taxes, we salute the territorial reorganization with both hands.’

‘The supporters of the project have not released the document publicly, which meant that it was still a set of proposals that was not in the public debate, nor the government officials have yet provided any details about’, we read in the Ziarul Financiar.


Translated by: Iulia Florescu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University