What the newspapers say: October 13, 2008

Romania’s currency has every chance of losing ground this week, but the National Central Bank will use all its means to protect the exchange rate, one newspaper reads on Monday. Elsewhere in the news, Romania’s millionaires talk about how this financial crisis has affected them. Last but not least, US Ambassador to Bucharest Nicholas Taubman urges Romanians to stop complaining since they’re tolerating corruption.

Cotidianul reads about Romania’s central bank determination to keep the national currency from depreciating too much. The newspaper reads that this week, the Romanian currency has every chance of losing ground to the euro, again.

Nonetheless, the National Central Bank reassured that it plans to defend the currency by all means. Last week, the bank intervened in the exchange rate by selling some 40 million euro, for the same reasons. The currency appreciated significantly.

Raiffeisen Bank Chief Economist Ionut Dumitru declared that it is hard to evaluate the evolution of the exchange rate, considering the current international environment. He declared that currencies in emerging countries feel the pressure to depreciate.

Romania’s currency proved to be very sensitive at the international environment changes. The newspaper declared that it could also prove to be the most sensitive in the region. The Romanian currency started losing ground on September 15, once the Lehman Brothers declared its bankruptcy and continued to drop after other major financial problems appeared.

In the same vein, Gandul informs about Romania’s millionaires and their losses once the international crisis affected Europe. Hungarian Democrat (UDMR) Senator Verestoy Attila declared that the value of his shares dropped by 50%, losing 11 million euro even though he took some precautionary measures.

He declared that he would not sell anything, on the contrary, he will wait for the market to win ground again. It seems that this is an action plan adopted by many: Democrat Liberal President Emil Boc declared the same.

Boc declared that, unlike the Prime Minister, he would not transform his economies in state titles, which are fully guaranteed by the state. He did not miss the opportunity to criticize the Prime Minister for his inconsistency: on the one hand, he declared that Romania’s economy would not fall but in the same time, he transforms all his economies in state titles.

Romanian businessman George Copos, ranked among the first 20 millionaires in Romania, said he lost a lot of money, and added that the world is sinking. His fortune is estimated at 700 million dollars.

Last but not least, in an interview for Evenimentul Zilei, US Ambassador to Bucharest Nicholas Taubman considers that Romanians should stop complaining if they keep tolerating corruption acts. As his mandate is almost over, Taubman appreciated that the Romanian press is free enough that the country’s economy is stable and politicians are the same everywhere.

Taubman declared that, in his view, most Romanian politicians want to improve the country. He added that politicians have the same characteristics everywhere: they just plan to get re-elected. Moreover, referring to the US Presidential debate, Taubman said that political campaigns are the same everywhere.

Moreover, Ambassador Taubman added that Romania’s economy is stable and dynamic. However, he pointed out that the international crisis has already affected the country, pointing to the depreciation of the national currency.