Romania signed a financing accord with the World Bank for 600 million euros for development policies. The loan was conditioned by carrying out structural reforms, actions being fully carried out before negotiations, the Finance Ministry informed on Thursday. “Contracting the loan was conditioned by the adoption of reforms, grouped in two pillars: Pillar 1: strengthening fiscal management, inclusion and green public investments, which includes actions in fields like fiscal reform, pension reform, green public investments; Pillar 2: promotion of private financing for green transition, which includes actions in fields like: energy (renewable energy, offshore wind energy), transport, public-private parnership,” the press release shows. The World Bank support has a maturity of 15 years, with payback in a single instalment, on July 15, 2039. “It is important to point out that this financing, made in the best conditions which Romania could access at this moment, was conditioned by carrying out structural reforms important for the consolidation of fiscal management and improving resilience to climate changes. Our partnership with the World Bank has always been successful and is reconfirmed by its active role in backing our country's growth potential. Special thanks for Anna Akhalkatsi (WB country manager for Romania and Hungary) for the permanent professional guidance offered to Romania,”said minister Bolos. 2024 marks 32 years of partnership between World Bank Group and Romania. The active portfolio includes 13 loans of 1.7 billion euros granted to Romania. Financial assistance covers key fields such as reform of the health system, secondary education, improving judicial services, disaster risk management, consolidating infrastructure and preparing for critical emergency situations as well as preveting and reducing rural pollution.
Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on Friday, January 10. According to the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the US without the need for a visa starting March 31, 2025. "Romania becomes the first country in the […]
Cluj-Napoca, the city in Romania with some of the highest rents and a fast-growing IT industry, is closer to banning smoking in playgrounds and parks after mayor Emil Boc expressed his support for the measure. The mayor cited the prioritization of public health as the reason behind such a ban. He mentioned that he has […]
Romania's Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital will receive a robotic system to prepare cytostatic drugs needed by cancer patients, along with other equipment, after the County Council obtained funds from the European Regional Development Fund. With an estimated value of EUR 1 million, the "Robotic Composition System for Sterile Preparations of Cytostatic Drugs" is among […]
Romania’s government adopted in its January 10 meeting a decision granting an extra day off to public sector employees at the beginning of May. Thus, Friday, May 2, will be an official day off for public sector workers, linking the legal holiday of May 1 (Labor Day) with the weekend (May 3-4). This...
The Ministry of Environment announced that 2024 was the hottest year in the history of Romania's meteorological records. Red alerts for heat waves began in June of 2024, with the longest consecutive periods of persistent and intense heat waves, six consecutive days, between July 13-18 and August 15-20. "The year 2024 is the hottest year...
Supporters of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu gathered outside the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, which houses the Constitutional Court, on January 10, demanding a rerun of the second round of the presidential elections. The protest, dubbed "The Great Judicial Union," was initiated by Georgescu, who called on his supporters to challenge the election annulment, as […]
