The review of the political and economic events that happened during the Winter Holidays

20.12.2009 On the political stage, we find that the political agreement signed between PD-L and UDMR, the current governing parties, is valid until the elections for the parliament of 2012. Among other things, the protocol includes keeping the flat tax rate of 16%, a multi-annual budget and the possible reconsideration of the lump sum tax. The agreement also includes increased decentralization, expanding the rights of minorities and the revision of the economic development areas. On the same day, prime-minister Emil Boc also announced the structure of the new government - 15 ministries, four less than in the PSD - PD-L government. The governing program includes, among other elements, the passing of the law of the public budget by January 16th, and of the law of Fiscal responsibility in March, the adoption of a national plan for lowering dependency on energy and the trading of natural gas on a platform similar to OPCOM (the day-ahead market for energy), a national pact for the construction of highways (set to receive at least 1% of the GDP in financing) or increasing the employment rate to 63% of the workforce by 2013.

21.12.2009 President Traian Băsescu took the oath before the Parliament, following the morning"s military ceremony which took place on the occasion of the ending of his first mandate. The joint offices of the two houses of the Parliament returned the project for the creation of a commission that would investigate the presidential elections to its initiator (the Social Democrat Party), claiming it needed "improvements". On the same date, the members of the parliament commemorated the 20 year anniversary of the revolution. Also in politics, we find that Honorius Prigoană, the son of PD-L deputy Silviu Prigoană, may run for the college which remained vacant after Bogdan Olteanu resigned from the Parliament after joining the NBR.

21.12.2009 On the economic front, we find that wages in public companies will be frozen in 2010. At the same time, the National Securities Commission put up for public debate a regulation which suggests classifying the Proprietatea Fund (FP) as a special mutual investment fund, which could speed up the listing of the Fund on the stock exchange.

22.12.2009 Eight of the ministers proposed by the Emil Boc were validated by the parliamentary commissions. The Minister of Finance, Sebastian Vlădescu, announced that the salaries of public sector workers would be frozen in 2010, but added that there won"t be issues with the payment of pensions and salaries. Vlădescu also announced that public sector wage policy will be extremely restrictive in the coming three years and that in 2010, the number of public sector layoffs will be below 100,000. The minister said that there will be no changes in fiscal policies. The Minister of Communications, Gabriel Sandu, announced that the Romanian Post Office will not be privatized, and the Minister of Agriculture, Mihail Dumitru announced he was considering disbanding the Agency for State Properties. On the same day, Petrom took out a line of credit worth EUR 500 million for investments and for paying back other debts. At the same time, the Supervisory Board of the Proprietatea Fund announced that the former General Manager of the Fund, Daniela Lulache would be replaced by Ionuţ Popescu, former Minister of Finance.

23.12.2009 The Boc government was validated by the Parliament. The government has the following structure: Emil Boc (prime minister), Marko Bela (deputy prime minister), Vasile Blaga (Internal Affairs), Adriean Videanu (Economy), Sebastian Vlădescu (Finance), Teodor Baconschi (Foreign Affairs), Radu Berceanu (Transports), Laszlo Borbely (Environment), Elena Udrea (Development and Tourism), Gabriel Oprea (Defense), Kelemen Hunor (Culture), Cătăin Predoiu (Justice), Gabriel Sandu (Communications), Mihai Şeitan (Labor), Petru Funeriu (Education), Cseke Attila (Healthcare) and Mihail Dumitru (Agriculture). On the same day, the Minister of Finance completed the draft budget for 2010, and unions announced they would stage protests. According to the law of the Social Security Budget for 2010, the Government would allocate 39.69 billion lei for the payment of pensions in 2010, (7.36% of the GDP), and subsidize the expenditure of the social security budget with 7.056 billion lei. The stock market ended the last session of the year in the green, and the exchange rate for the leu reached a two-month low at 4.2047 lei/Euro.

24.12.2009 The government approved the draft budget for 2010 and the draft on social security. Prime Minister Emil Boc announced that the Government"s goal for 2010 is to stimulate the recovery of the economy, in order to consolidate growth. The PM also announced that the "First Home" would be reorganized to focus mostly on the acquisition of homes built from scratch. On this date, the reference exchange rate reached the lowest in two months and three weeks, to 4.2028 lei/Euro. At the same time, the Bucharest Stock exchange tested the Disaster & Recovery (DR) backup platform, by switching to the DR system for 30 minutes.

28.12.2009 The Ministry of Public Finance wants to raise around 10-12 billion lei in Q1 2010 by issuing domestic bonds. At the last auction of 2009, the Ministry raised 785.5 million lei, with a yield of 10%. The Minister of Labor, Mihai Şeitan, announced that 70 to 80,000 public sector workers may be laid off this year. The National Road and Highway company announced it needs it needs 17,279 billion lei, an 88% percent increase over 2009. The energy market watchdog, (ANRE) has decided to inflation-adjust the price of energy paid by industrial and individual consumers.

29.12.2009 Through an emergency decree, the Government has revised the structure of ministries. The Executive plans to increase investments in order to align Romania to Schengen requirements. The members of the government ratified the memorandum for granting state guarantees for Ford. The Romanian "Cash for clunkers" program will continue after January 1st. Also on December 29th it was announced that Romania"s second nuclear plant, with a capacity of 1000 MW, will be completed in 2030. In the financial sector, the NBR announced it has injected 9.47 billion lei in the market, through a repo operation with a January 4th maturity. The major union blocks said they may stage new protests in the beginning of 2010.

30.12.2009 The IMF announced through one of its officials, that Romania would receive the third tranche of the loan after passing the 2010 budget. The Executive estimated it would save 1.4 billion lei this year by laying off staff. On the matter of the state budget, according to the Law on fiscal responsibility, the Government will be allowed to make a maximum of two budget revisions a year, but not in the first semester. President Traian Băsescu announced that the expertise on the Roşia Montană would be submitted to the Supreme Defense Council, which is set to make a decision on this matter. On the same day, the Loan Guarantee Fund announced that starting January 1st 2010, it would no longer receive applications for the "First Home" program, until the government passes the new legal framework for the program for the year 2010.

31.12.2009 The Finance Minister Sebastian Vlădescu announced that the Government"s "First Home" program may be extended to help construction companies. Vlădescu said that such a measure would need to be discussed with the IMF and with the European Commission first. In turn, the Minister of Education, Daniel Funeriu, said that there would be no layoffs in the education system until the end of the school year. According to him, layoffs in the education sector could begin by September 1st 2010.

3.01.2010 The Federation of Romanian Tourism Professional Associations (FPTR) announced that Romanian tourists that spent their New Year in Romanian hotels and hostels spent 13% less than in 2008 and 18.3% less than in 2007. According to the FPTR, Romanians spent around 124.5 million lei this New Year, compared to 142.6 million lei in 2008, and 152.4 million in 2007. After food industry professional associations announced price hikes for foodstuffs in 2010, the Minister of Agriculture, Mihail Dumitru, said he doesn"t expect any major price increases. He also said that he is trying to mitigate the elimination of certain subsidies - used by producers to justify any price hikes - by securing additional funding for the ministry.