Financial Press Review, November 10

Ziarul Financiar opens with an article on export growth within the first nine months of the year, which led to a narrowing of the trade deficit by 3.4% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The problem, according to Ziarul Financiar, is that "17,500 employees of Dacia and Nokia alone generated one fifth of the export growth nine months into the year, which stood at 25%".

Export rebound "wasn’t enough to pull the national economy out of recession, not even 2010".

In his article entitled "Recession – End of Story?" in Ziarul Financiar, Adrian Vasilescu draws attention to the fact that "time has lost its patience, and Romania needs to speed up now".

"However, Romania will truly be able to do that only after the mismanagement of resources has been stopped and diligence, entrepreneurship and efficiency have begun to be promoted. (...) Coming out of recession is now a pressing issue. As a result, redressing budget imbalances and stimulating investments have become urgent matters".

In an article entitled "Parliamentary Aberration", Bursa touches upon the current blockage in the Parliament, an institution which is said to have been transformed into a ‘law-making machine, with laws being changed even more often than bed linens’ in the hotels where the MPs are lodged.

"Abolishing parliamentary government is not the solution", the author is quick to point out.

In a dialogue printed in Economistul, Daniel Dăianu talks about the way international bodies underestimate the importance of industrial culture, given the fact that "we have first-generation industrial workers, consisting of former peasants, whereas the Czech Republic and Poland have been having industrial workers for two or three generations now. Industrial culture is extremely significant! This is where political culture derives from, as well", Daniel Dăianu says.

"Well-read people, who have more autonomy in their activities than others do, also have a different voting behaviour. (...) A man who reads a lot and keeps himself up-to-date with the latest information acquires a different understanding of life and the possibilities democracy has to offer".

An article in Ziarul Financiar draws attention to the fact that "the number of higher education graduates claiming unemployment benefits reached nearly 53,000 in September, a record level for the last 20 years, considering that around 100,000 Romanians graduate from college every year".

"Many college graduates were unable to get a job because the companies with vacancies had a lot of candidates to choose from – experienced candidates who were part of the 570,000 who had been laid off at the beginning of the economic crisis".

‘We currently train students whose qualifications are not relevant for the demands on the labour market or the necessary labour force for more developed economies".

"The employment rate for faculty graduates has also declined because of private universities losing credibility over problems related to the legality of diplomas", Ziarul Financiar writes forwardly.

Bursa discusses a report issued by the World Bank, which indicates that "the amount of money sent home by Romanians working abroad dropped by 50% in 2009", because of the economic crisis which affected their states of residence, particularly Spain and Italy. Nevertheless, Romania continues to rank second after Spain at EU level with respect to the total amount of intra-EU and extra-EU remittances", the paper points out.

In an article bearing the title "Shoplifting is the Greatest Problem Facing Companies in the Textile Industry", Curierul Naţional recounts the remark made by a New Yorker Romania representative concerning the fact that "shoplifting is our greatest problem and this holds true for all textile manufacturers and retailers as well. (..) The point is, shoplifting is very common in Romania and not just at New Yorker; people steal in any kind of shop, supermarkets included".

Translated by: Ruxandra Câmpeanu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University