What the newspapers say: January 27, 2009

Romanian President Traian Basescu might not run for another term next year, if the government fails to deliver its electoral promises, one newspaper reads on Tuesday. Elsewhere in the news, Romania’s national currency loses serious ground against the euro and a French corruption case might reveal a high corruption case in Romania.

All newspapers today read about President Basescu’s declaration on Monday night, that he might actually not run for another term in office if the governing alliance he pushed for would fail to deliver its promises. Gandul reads that Basescu said that if he concludes that the economic crisis affected the Romanians more than it had to, he would not run for another term.

Even so, the President emphasized that the new government was the only available strategy at the moment and added that the government must gain the people’s trust by being professional and manage the economic crisis carefully.

Basescu wanted to clarify several rumors that have appeared regarding a two-year negotiation with the Social Democrats to form a government. He thus explained that at the moment when he approached the Social Democrats it was only because of the September 2007 motion and that talks ended immediately after the motion was dismissed in the Parliament.

The President took the opportunity to talk highly of the government, pointing to the new 2009 budget. He declared that the government preferred to delay its publication in order to have a balanced budget. However, Basescu made it clear that the government should allocate most money to investments and manage the budget realistically in such a way to protect those affected by the crisis.

Elsewhere in the news, Romania libera reads that a scandal in France reveals corruption cases in Romania. The French national typography is accused to bribing several officials in Romania, in 2003, just to get a 20 million dollar contract, several French publications inform.

The scandal regards a contract signed by Romania’s Finance Ministry for the introduction of an information system that would improve the activity within the fiscal administrations. The contract was mediated through the Romanian typography but was never complied with by the French counterparts and in 2006, the contract became void.

However, the French press did not make public the bribes offered to Romanian officials, nor did they publish any name. Nonetheless, until French authorities pinpoint some names and numbers, one thing is clear: the attribution of the contract was made in 2003 through an emergency ordinance issued by the Government, that, at the time, was run by Social Democrat Adrian Nastase.

Last but not least, Romania’s national currency loses ground against the euro, Evenimentul Zilei reads. The newspaper reads that from 3.1 Romanian Ron for one euro in July 2007, the January 2009 exchange rate reached 4.3 Romanian Ron for one euro. Romania’s financial market has changed completely, the newspaper reads.

Thus, in 2009, Romania’s country rating was downgraded, its currency is weak and the budgetary deficit skyrockets. Authorities cannot even count on the money Romanians working abroad were sending, as they were left without jobs.

Financial analyst Bogdan Baltazar declared for the newspaper that Romania was growing poorer with this financial situation. The main cause, he explained, was the financial and economic crisis in the world. He added that the direct effects are the depreciation of the national currency, the decrease of supply and demand which lead to bankruptcies and high unemployment rates.

Baltazar is optimistic, though, and says that the end of the year will come with an improvement, with a considerable growth rate. In his view, Romania has some important advantages: it has a big population, cheap labor force, a good geostrategic position and an agricultural sector awaiting investments to deliver.