Financial Press Review, November 8

Under the heading ‘Isărescu sees on his own that it’s hard to do honest business in România,’ Ziarul Financiar dedicated a whole newspaper page to the statements made by the governor of the BNR (National Bank of Romania) on a television station, yesterday.

‘The structural reforms must be continued in order to free up the funds destined for consumption in the state budget,’ said Mugur Isărescu revealing that ‘this happens slowly and it encounters resistances” and that “the adjustment in the governmental sector has started pretty shy, and it was not performed on time, nor well understood.’

The BNR governor also referred to the unfavorable business environment factors in Romania, such as ‘the large number of reports and taxes, as well as the confusion between business and shady affairs.‘

‘Doing business means to create jobs, pay wages, pay taxes in a competitive environment. This is the market economy. We have to accept it once and for all,’ stated Mugur Isărescu, who considers unhealthy the confusion between de business environment and various ‘gunners.’

Business needs to be encouraged, the entrepreneurship needs to be encouraged, as well as work, as well as innovation, this is the basis of a healthy economic growth, not anything else,’ the newspaper quoted the BNR governor.

Curierul Naţional chose to comment upon yesterday’s statements by Mugur Isărescu especially on the part concerning the functioning banking system failures.

The system is under pressure also because of the uncertainties and endless discussions on the political and social scene.

All these uncertainties turn into additional costs,’ explained the BNR governor.

Curierul Naţional also publishes and article entitled ‘How to restart the real economy?’ dedicated to presenting the new set of proposals submitted to the executive by the employers representatives in the hope that – reads the newspaper - the government will finally understand that some measures must be taken for the economic relaunch’ and hence for the employment increase.

Economistul published the first part of an interview with the president of the financial group ING Romania, Mişu Negriţoiu.

He reveals that the effects of the global crisis are ‘amplified in our country by the state of the country, by internal vulnerabilities, as a consequence of a two-decade inconsistency in establishing the basic balances.’

Mişu Negriţoiu reported a great unprecedented social distortion in our country: ‘In our country the ones that work are fewer than the ones that benefiting from the effects of others’ labor. ‘

The active workforce cannot support those who benefit from social policies.
The ING Romanian president urges us ‘not to scold the IMF for giving us too many lessons, for listening with both ears to some people and with half an ear to other people, but in the last 20 years, all the Romanian reforms have been put into place by using a forceps.

Economistul quotes Mişu Negriţoiu as saying that ‘if you’re not convinced that some reforms have to be made, nor you accept them or apply them properly,’ then Romania cannot afford to do ‘what others can do in other circumstances, in another stage of development.’

Under the heading ‘The State, the first obstacle to economic recovery,’ Săptămâna Financiară reads that ‘by not paying their bills towards the firms that consciously pay their budget contributions, the Romanian government not only uses money that does not belong to it without paying a cent as interest, but also discourages the fiscal discipline and indirectly favors the competitors of the firms that pay their debts on time. The arrears problem has been reported not only by the private sector, but also by the diplomatic missions in Bucharest.


Translated by: Iulia Florescu and Raluca Mizdrea
MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University