Romania

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said his party is against the government’s constitutional amendment package both in essence and in the method it came about.

Speaking at his party’s parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Bahçeli discussed the reasons for the MHP’s opposition to the proposed reform package, which contains 28 changes to the current Turkish Constitution, which was originally drafted during military rule following the Sept. 12, 1980 coup. The package, however, is seen as a major step toward Turkey’s democratization as the country finally challenges its civil-military relations, which fall short of complying with democratic standards.

International passenger flights rose with 9.5 per cent in February, compared to the same period last year. The evolution hints at ever growing demand for travel, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), informs Mediafax.

“We are heading in the right direction. In 2 or 3 months, the industry should bounce back to air traffic levels before the recession. This is not as yet a full recovery. The objective is to adjust operations to the two years in which the activity slackened,” the general manager of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, said in a press release by the association. Last month, the rate of passenger flights’ booking rose to 75.5 per cent. In terms of seasonal figures, the indicator was 79.3 per cent. February normally represents the lowest month for travel, the association points out.

Capital spending will further decline this year in Romania, putting extra pressure on the labor market. Meanwhile, consumption will stay low, at a moment when recession and problems on the credit market will keep domestic demand down for some more time, finds an analysis by BNP Paribas.

The Romanian crediting crisis was “by far” the most severe in Central and Eastern Europe, as it had a strong effect upon investment, say the analysts of the biggest French bank. Thus, although the economy will grow by more than 7 percent points this year, domestic demand will stay at crisis levels. BNP Paribas estimates that Romania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase by a modest 0.5 pc this year, but will pick up by 2.5 pc in 2011 and 2.9 pc in 2012 - the year when Romania will have to trim its budget deficit under 3 pc of the GDP, as demanded by the European Union. Budget deficit will thus drop to 6.8 pc in 2010 and 5.2 pc in 2011, according to BNP analysts, but it will still reach 5.1 pc in 2012, far above the limit accepted by the EU. The crediting institution sees the annual inflation rate in 2010 down to 3.4 pc, under the BNR target of 3.5 pc, but within the plus/minus one percent point corridor targeted by the Central Bank. According to the BNP Paribas forecast, the country will be able to curb its current account deficit to 3.1 pc of the GDP this year, while the exchange rate at end-year will reach 4.2 RON/EUR.