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Financial & Banking
Government wants suspension of Pension II Pillar contributions during July-December
Monday, May 21, 2018
According to the 2018 legislative programme of the Government revealed on Sunday in the mass media, a top legislative priority of the Dancila Cabinet is ”a draft law on regulating the private managed mandatory funds (the so called Pension II Pillar)”, with the note that its contributions will be suspended during July 1-December 31. On the other hand, Labour minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu retorted that the suspension of the contributions is a ...
FIC: Pillar 2 is a fundamental tool for pension savings, second warning from investors in a week
Monday, May 21, 2018
The Foreign Investors Council (FIC), which brings together companies hiring approximately 200.000 people, is worried by possible policy measures affecting the three-pillar pension savings system and the lack of transparency in which these are analyzed and promoted, a release posted on its website informs, romaniajournal.ro informs. The three-pillar system is fundamental taking into consideration the projections for Romania’s demographic evolution ...
Conference CEPS-IMF Spring 2018 Regional Economic Outlook: Europe – Managing the Upswing in Uncertain Times
Monday, May 21, 2018
Liviu Voinea, Deputy Governor NBR Dear Governor Smets,Dear Director of the IMF’s European Department Thomsen,Dear CEPS Director Gros, Thank you for having me here. It is an honor for me to speak at the launch of the IMF Regional Economic Outlook for Europe. This report is remarkable in many respects: it is comprehensive, well-documented and clearly written, with strong ...
ASF approves Francois Coste’s appointment as president of PAID
Monday, May 21, 2018
The Financial Supervision Authority (ASF) has approved the appointment of Francois Coste as president of the administration board of The Insurance Pool against Natural Disasters (PAID). Also, the ASF approved the appointment of Gabriel Marcu as vice president of the PAID’s administration board. Under the law, PAID manages the compulsory home insurance system, covering three main risks specific to Romania: earthquake, ...
OTP Bank Romania’s posts strongest ever net profit of RON 22.5 mln in Q1 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
OTP Group announced the financial results for the first quarter of 2018, with a net profit of RON 22.5 million, the strongest quarterly profit ever, with an increase of 18 percent compared to 2017 results and a q/q advance of 60 percent, http://business-review.eu reports. Operating profit dropped by 34 percent y/y as a result of 5 percent lower total income and 15 percent ...
Raiffeisen Bank net profit more than doubles in first trimester of 2018, to over 45 million euro
Monday, May 21, 2018
Raiffeisen Bank ended the first trimester of the year with a net profit of over 45 million euro (212 million lei), more than double as compared to the similar period of 2017, when the result was influenced by the campaign of the conversion of loans in Swiss francs, at a discount, and the cost of the credit risk, according to a press release sent on Tuesday.Raiffeisen Bank's total assets increased in the first trimester of the year to 37.21 billion lei (plus 13 ...
Fondul Proprietatea's profit, slight increase in Q1, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
In the first quarter of this year, Fondul Proprietatea (FP) reported a net profit of 293.6 million lei, slightly up by 0.2pct compared to the same period of 2017, according to data released on Tuesday by the Bucharest Stock Exchange.Net operating revenues amounted to 311.7 million lei (323.2 million lei in Q1, 2017) and operating expenditure totaled 18.1 million lei (Q1, 2017: 40 million lei)."The Fund's investment objective is to maximize yields ...
CEC Bank ends 2017 with gross profit of 222.7 million lei
Monday, May 21, 2018
CEC Bank ended the year 2017 with a gross profit of 222.7 million lei, this being the best financial performance in the last ten years, according to a bank's press release sent on last Monday.Also, at the end of 2017, the net balance sheet stood at 31.651 billion lei, up 12pct from 2016."The result was based on the increase in the balance of new deposits from the banking and non-banking customers, which supported the positive evolution of the assets ...
Bloomberg: Now the EU's Three Poorest Members Want to Join the Euro
Monday, May 21, 2018
* Romania joins Bulgaria, Croatia in targeting single currency * Move comes as questions arise over distribution of EU cash The three poorest European Union countries now have euro adoption in their cross-hairs, bloomberg.com informs. The latest is Romania, which said last week that it will present its strategy by ...
Minutes of the monetary policy meeting of the National Bank of Romania Board on 7 May 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Press release issued on Monday, May 14 The National Bank of Romania Board members present at the meeting: Mugur Isarescu, Chairman of the Board and Governor of the National Bank of Romania; Florin Georgescu, Vice Chairman of the Board and First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Romania; Eugen Nicol?escu, Board member and Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Romania; Liviu Voinea, Board member and Deputy ...
Governor Isarescu says concerns are related to administrated prices, labour market, oil developments
Monday, May 14, 2018
In a briefing last week, Central Bank (BNR) Governor Mugur Isarescu said the decision to increase the monetary policy rate comes in the context of new information about inflation. Isarescu argued the inflation will slightly increase and then will be capped in the following months, ziare.com reports. “The report on inflation, May 2018 edition, includes the latest information available (…) and reconfirms the prospect of slight growth and ...
President Iohannis says Romania commits to join Eurozone as soon as possible
Monday, May 14, 2018
President Klaus Iohannis stated on Wednesday that Romania commits to access the Eurozone as soon as possible and it will continue the demarches for the integration into the Schengen Area."The single currency remains one of the most tangible evidence of the European integration. Romania commits to join the Eurozone as soon as possible, once all the criterion have been met, in view of a lasting result both to the benefit of the citizens and the entire Romanian ...
Romania ranks last in Europe for financial education
Monday, May 14, 2018
Romania is last in Europe for financial education. The indicator that measures this component is 21%, compared to the average EU level of 52%, while in Bulgaria it is 35%, said Alexandru Ciuncan, general secretary of the Association for Insurance Promotion (APPA), at a press conference launching the financial education campaign “Live the Future”. “Romania ranks first in Europe for financial education. Only one out of five Romanians ...
BNR: administered prices – the main uncertainties and risks associated with the perspective of inflation
Monday, May 14, 2018
Uncertainties and risks associated with the perspective of inflation come mainly from administered prices,conditions on the work market and future evolution of the international price of petrol,stated on Monday the governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu. In the official terminology,the products whose prices are administered (regulated) are: drugs,electricity,natural gas,thermal energy,CFR transport,water transport, ...
IFC Announces a New Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia
Monday, May 14, 2018
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has appointed a new Director for the Europe and Central Asia region, which comprises 28 countries and a portfolio of over $10 billion in investment and 89 advisory projects. Wiebke Schloemer will replace current director Tomasz Telma from May 1, 2018. The former IFC regional infrastructure head, who will be based in Vienna, will lead a region that includes Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Poland, ...
BNR's Croitoru advocates euro zone accession in full awareness of all aspects
Monday, May 14, 2018
Romania must join the euro zone, but must do this in full awareness and change its attitude towards inflation, Lucian Croitoru, senior advisor on monetary policy to the governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) told the Country Risk Conference on Wednesday.Advocating an attitude towards inflation similar to that of powerful economies, that rely on competitiveness and low inflation, Croitoru cautioned that if through the promoted policies Romania develops a ...
Pillar II pensions to have increasingly higher share in total pension expenditure
Monday, May 14, 2018
Pillar II pensions will have an increasingly higher share in the total pension expenditure in 2030, to reach 1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2070, according to the Convergence Programme 2018-2021 of the Romanian Government released on Friday by the Ministry of Public Finance (MFP)."Pillar II pensions will have an increasingly more significant weight in the total pension expenditure, reaching a share of 1.1 percent of GDP at the end of the forecast ...
UniCredit sees higher profit in Romania in Q1
Monday, May 14, 2018
Italian group UniCredit recorded a profit of EUR 29 million in Romania, in the first quarter of this year, up by 38% compared to the same period of last year, romania-insider.com informs. The group’s operational profit on the local market reached EUR 56 million, up 9.2% year-on-year, as the operational revenues increased by 4.6% to EUR 97 million. The group’s loans in Romania reached EUR 5.75 billion at the eon dog ...
OTP Bank Romania's Q1 net profit rises 15% y/y
Monday, May 14, 2018
Hungarian banking group OTP said on Friday the net profit of its Romanian unit rose 15% on the year in the first quarter, reaching 1.5 billion Hungarian forints ($5.7 million/4.8 million euro, seenews.com informs). Total income grew 7% on the year to 6.6 billion forints, while operating expenses rose 12% to 4.7 billion forints, OTP said in an interim financial report. Total net interest income fell by 4% to 5.11 billion ...
Reuters poll: Eastern European currencies to appreciate in the next year, except for the Romanian leu
Monday, May 14, 2018
Global market jitters caused by the dollar’s rally are unlikely to leave a lasting mark on Central European currencies, and most are expected to strengthen in the next 12 months, a Reuters poll of 30 analysts found, quoted by romaniajournal.ro. Inflation has remained moderate despite robust economic growth and a surge in wages in most of Central Europe, which is closely tied to the euro zone, and less vulnerable to swings in commodities prices ...