Romania Roundup: GDP growth, pension increase, presidential tour

GDP growth

The Romanian National Institute of Statistics (INS) has reported that Romania's GDP increased by 0.2% in the third quarter of this year compared to the same quarter in 2022, with a 2.1% increase on the seasonally adjusted series. The first nine months of 2023 saw a 1.1% increase in the gross series in comparison to last year and 1.9% in the seasonally adjusted series. The seasonally adjusted series of the quarterly GDP was recalculated due to the inclusion of estimates for the third quarter of 2023, being revised compared to the version published on October 12, 2023, local media Cotidianul reported.

Pension increase

Romania's Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has expressed the need for sustainable pension reforms, stating that increasing pensions is the main objective of the governing coalition. He stated that the current average pension is inhumane and that it is not possible to continue with an average pension of 1980 lei ($426), local media Bursa reported.  According to Bursa, Ciolacu also stated that the increase in pensions will have a 25 billion lei ($5.382 billion) budget impact in 2024 and a 33 billion lei ($7.1 billion) budget impact in 2025.

Presidential tour of Africa

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is set to visit several African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Cape Verde, and Senegal, between November 14-23. The press statement released on November 7 by the presidential administration stated that the visits are part of the first political-diplomatic approach in the last 30 years and aim to relaunch Romania's relations with the African continent. The president will have meetings with President Samia Suluhu Hassan, President Jose Maria Neves, and former students from Cabo Verde who studied in Romania.

Heated houses

The Ministry of Energy in Romania has signed a partnership to combat energy poverty, aiming to support over 1000 needy households during the winter season. The "Heat houses for needy families" project, launched with the Intelligent Energy Association (HER), aims to cover at least 1,000 households with heating supplies for the entire winter, Bursa reports. According to Bursa, the Ministry of Energy will provide approximately 1 million lei ($215,438) for support for over 1,000 households, with beneficiaries chosen based on income, marginalisation, and distance from main access roads and supply sources.

Draft law on public pension

The Romanian Senate will debate and vote on the Government's draft law on the public pension system on November 14. The executive approved the draft law on November 9 which means the pensions of over 4.7 million Romanians are to be recalculated, Bursa reported. "All the aspects related to the Pensions Law, including those regarding the funding sources, were clarified in the Coalition meeting this afternoon. Therefore, the Law enters the Parliament in a straight line, being supported by the entire Coalition,” Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said in a post on Facebook.