Incumbent President Traian Basescu did not decide whether he will run in the 2009 Presidential elections, one newspaper reads on Wednesday. Elsewhere in the news, unemployment rates in Romania will increase to 1 million in 2010. Last but not least, Romanian airport authorities refused to use a modern scanner detecting possible swine flu cases.

Cotidianul reads on Wednesday about President Basescu's indecision to run in the 2009 Presidential elections. Basescu declared that his main concern at the moment are the effects of the economic crisis.

Moreover, he underlined that he would rather end his mandate with a clean conscience than ignore the social turmoil looming over the country. Basescu took the opportunity to criticize the government for not taking his advice on the emergency ordinance ruling the lay off of the heads of the local decentralized institutions.

In economics, Evenimentul Zilei reads that unemployment rates in Romania will increase to 8.9% this year and 9.7% in 2010 quoting IMF. These forecasts outnumber those put forward by the European Commission or Romania's National Prognosis Institute.

The newspaper brags that the paper put forward months ago such a number but at the time politicians denied it. Recently, Labor minister Marian Sarbu admitted that in 2009 unemployment will raise to 800,000 people. However, just a day after his declaration, Sarbu amended the estimation to 900,000 people.

Sarbu declared that IMF forecasts are exaggerated and added that he was expecting a forecast around 6.8%. However, the IMF numbers were confirmed by the European Commission as its unemployment rates were modified to 8%.

The newspaper reads that IMF experts declared that in 2009 salaries will register a 5.9% average increase and a 3.9% advance in 2010, a little over the inflation rate. The Fund for