European debt crisis

Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro agreed on Thursday on a package of measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros ($550 billion) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the virus outbreak.

An agreement among eurozone finance ministers on further joint measures to support their economies through the coronavirus crisis is within reach, France's finance minister said on Thursday.

The World Bank has revised significantly its estimates of the Romanian economy's advance this year, down to 0.3 percent from 3.8 percent, as projected three months ago, but growth would gradually bounce back in the second half of 2020 and further accelerate in 2021 to 4.4 percent, according to the World Bank's economic update spring 2020.

The disastrous impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is pushing Europe towards an existential crossroads. In defining the measures to respond to the crisis, two opposite blocks are forming: the front of the southern countries ("South") with larger public debts and weaker economic growth and the one of the northern countries ("North") with accounts in order and significantly lower debt-to-GDP ratios.

The coronavirus pandemic has revived the acrimonious debate between eurozone countries about jointly issuing debt to meet healthcare needs and address the deep economic downturn that is set to follow.

Nine of the 19 countries that use the single currency called on March 25 for a common debt instrument issued by a European institution to fight the outbreak and its effects.

Eurozone states that need aid from the bloc's bailout fund to tackle the coronavirus should get it quickly and be first subjected to visits from officials proposing policies like during the eurozone crisis, Germany's finance minister said.

Southern European government bonds rallied on Thursday, with yields on Italian and Greek debt tumbling after the European Central Bank announced the terms of its 750 billion euro bond-buying scheme to limit the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Leaders of nine EU countries including France, Italy and Spain called on the bloc to agree on a "common debt instrument" to raise funds to support the health industry in combating the coronavirus, as well as the broader economies, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Eurozone finance ministers will discuss European Commission proposals to make use of the bloc's bailout fund to fight the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic in a teleconference on Tuesday evening, the Commission said.

The new pensions law is the main factor causing the rapid increase in the general government deficit up to 6.1 percent of the GDP in 2021, and the high fiscal sustainability risks, the European Commission estimated in the Country Report for Romania published on Wednesday.