CITU

The IMM Invest platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will become operational early next week, Tuesday or Wednesday, Public Finance Minister Florin Citu said on Sunday. "The platform will be operational early next week, Tuesday or Wednesday, but rather on Tuesday. I will announce tomorrow [Monday] the exact time when it starts. It is ready, it is tested, I have seen it myself.

Finance Minister Florin Citu announced on Wednesday that work is being done on a significant package of measures to restart the economy, a package to be introduced after the end of the state of emergency.

Finance Minister Florin Citu said Tuesday evening that a national budget revision was being worked on to get it included in the government meeting on Thursday, definitely to pass on Monday. "We are working on it now. I do not know if it is included in the government meeting on Thursday.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) says that banks only are the ones that win following the gov't ordinance on the loan instalments' payment delaying, adopted Thursday by the Government, and this is to be corrected in the Parliament. "The only one to win following the Ordinance of Citu (the Finance Minister, ed. n.) regarding the postponement of the instalments to loans payment are the banks.

President Klaus Iohannis argued on Thursday that the resignation of Florin Citu as Prime Minister-designate proves political maturity "in the complicated context" caused by the novel coronavirus. "Mr. Florin Citu tendered his resignation as Prime Minister-designate - a political gesture which I respect.

Florin Citu has resigned as prime minister-designate, the Presidential Administration said on Thursday. The source also says President Klaus Iohannis has taken note of Citu's decision and will hold a news briefing in the evening. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)

Parliament will convene on Thursday at 16:00hrs for a confidence vote of the Citu Government, according to a joint decision on Monday of Parliament's Standing Bureaus. On February 28, Prime Minister-designate Florin Citu submitted to Parliament a list of his cabinet members and a government programme.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD)'s Executive President Eugen Teodorovici on Thursday expressed "deep disappointment and sorrow" over the fact that Minister of Finance Florin Citu "does not know how to read a budget". In his opinion, Florin Citu held "an attempt of press conference, instead of presenting a situation ten days after taking office".

Romania's government deficit ten months into 2019 is 2.84% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a level that exceeds the estimate for the whole year, and if we do nothing in the next month and a half the deficit will exceed 4%, Finance Minister Florin Citu told AGERPRES on Thursday. "The deficit nine months into the year should have been 2.28%, but budget implementation at 9 months is 2.60%.