Official moves to check the fiscal activities of the National Lottery, a meeting President Basescu hosted with leaders of the parliamentary parties yesterday and an EIU and IMF disagreement with the Romanian government on the economic policies of 2006 concentrate most of the attention of Bucharest-based newspapers today.

Finance minister Sebastian Vladescu asked his top fiscal authority to investigate the Romanian Lottery yesterday, following media reports related to possible abuses by Lottery chief Nicolae Cristea. Evenimentul Zilei notes that thus Vladescu eventually woke up and intervened in an issue he should have taken stance on long ago.

And Cotidianul renews investigations in this regard and discovers that Lottery managers not only registered huge salaries over the years, but also fixed a system that allowed them to own villas previously listed as prizes – at a diminutive price.

The same Evenimentul Zilei reports some 400 judges sent a request to the Superior Council of Magistrates to notify the Constitutional Court about President Basescu’s meddling with the Justice system. They believe the Court was the only institution able to keep Basescu in check.

The President has been at the forefront of the Justice reform since he came to power more than one year ago.

For its part, Ziua focuses on a confrontation between Basescu and PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu yesterday, which was promptly noted by the Opposition as proof the Government has become "a second hand institution".

Meanwhile, analysts concentrate on the economy, where they believe the US dollar and the euro may lose ground against the euro in the near term – but not as much as in the past, as Gandul reports.

And according to Adevarul, quoting a forecast published Monday by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Romanian economy may expect to grow by 4.4% this year, up from the 4% recorded in 2005 but well below the 6% hoped by the Government in Bucharest.