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Financial & Banking
Romanian banks rake in EUR 1 bln in profits in the first half of 2022
Monday, August 29, 2022
Romanian banks recorded combined net profits of almost RON 5 bln (EUR 1 bln) in the first half of 2022, up 14% compared with the same period of last year, according to data from Romania’s National Bank (BNR). This is the best H1 result for local banks in recent years and was driven by higher interest rates, according ...
Minutes of the monetary policy meeting of the National Bank of Romania Board on 5 August 2022
Monday, August 22, 2022
19 August 2022 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; Leonardo Badea, Board member and Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Romania; Eugen Nicolaescu, Board member and Deputy Governor ...
VAT rates to increase from 2023, with implications in food, real estate sectors
Monday, August 22, 2022
A series of legislative novelties in the field of VAT will enter into force from January 1, 2023 as a result of the amendment of the Fiscal Code by Government Ordinance 16/2022, the biggest impact to be in the food, tourism and real estate sectors, is the conclusion of an analysis published on Tuesday by Izabela Stoicescu, Senior Manager PwC Romania and Cristina Florea, Senior Consultant PwC Romania."For some beverages (mineral and carbonated waters ...
EBRD invests in Romania’s first sustainability bonds
Monday, August 22, 2022
EBRD invests €26 million equivalent in pioneering Romania sustainability bonds Raiffeisen Bank Romania accesses capital markets to fund sustainable projects Promoting sustainable growth and developing capital markets is among EBRD top ...
Revolut launches consumer loans in Romania
Monday, August 22, 2022
UK-based fintech Revolut announced it will start giving consumer loans in Romania, its second biggest market worldwide. Revolut has over 2 million users in Romania, representing about 10% of its worldwide clients. Revolut customers can apply for consumer loans directly in the app. The company says it gives loans of up to RON 125,000 (EUR 25,500) in a few minutes. The credit agreement is signed with a ...
The trading value with the shares listed on BVB goes up by 60 per cent in the first 7 months yet liquidity returns to summer levels in July
Monday, August 22, 2022
Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) investors and analysts are waiting for the end of the financial reporting season to get a first indication of how listed Romanian companies could perform this year. In this context, the average daily liquidity in the equity segment was in July below the level of June. Overall, in the first 7 months, the average daily trading ...
Alpha Bank Romania joins Start-Up Nation 2022, national SME funding programmes
Monday, August 22, 2022
Alpha Bank Romania has been selected by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism as a partner bank for the implementation of the Start-Up Nation programme.According to a statement from the bank released on Wednesday, under the programme, entrepreneurs will qualify for financial grants of a maximum of 200,000 lei (representing a maximum of 95% of the total value of eligible expenses) for the development of business ideas. The remaining can be ...
SIF Oltenia profit up over five times in H1 2022
Monday, August 22, 2022
Societatea de Investitii Financiare Oltenia (SIF 5) recorded a net profit of 143.98 million lei in H1 2022, 5.2 times higher than in H1 2021, according to a financial report submitted on Tuesday to the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).Revenues increased four times, to 158.531 million lei, and expenses decreased by 33.26%, to 6.991 million lei.As of June 30, 2022, the number of SIF 5 shares in circulation was 475 million, as a result of the successful ...
CEC Bank's H1 net profit at 110.8 ml RON
Monday, August 22, 2022
CEC Bank posted an estimated, unaudited net profit of 110.8 million RON in H1 2022, the bank announced on Tuesday.According to the cited source, the bank continued to strengthen its position on the market, and saw its assets go up to 53.3 billion RON - plus 20 pct compared to the same period last year."For the economy and the banking system, the second quarter was one of the most challenging in the last decade. (...) CEC Bank has proven that it can ...
Assets of voluntary pension funds worth 3.3 billion RON in June, up 2 pct
Monday, August 22, 2022
Voluntary pension funds had assets worth 3.3 billion RON, on June 30, 2022, up 2 percent compared to the level recorded on the same date of the previous year, informs a report of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF)."Most investments were made locally (92 percent), the majority RON-denominated (91 percent)," the report states.State securities held the largest share in assets, of 1.974 billion RON, respectively 59.81 percent. Ranking second ...
BNR: Balance of payments and external debt – June 2022
Monday, August 15, 2022
In January - June 2022p, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 12,298 million, compared with EUR 7,203 million in the same year-ago period, Romanian central bank (BNR) informs. The breakdown shows that the deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 4,189 million, the surplus on services increased by EUR 487 million, the primary income deficit grew by EUR 1,349 million, while the secondary income surplus narrowed by EUR 44 ...
Raiffeisen Romania issues RON 500 mln of 5-yr sustainability bonds
Monday, August 15, 2022
Raiffeisen Romania announced that it placed a new issue of corporate bonds in local currency (RON), the bank's fourth issue of MREL eligible bonds and the first series of sustainability bonds, through which it raised RON 500.85 mln from institutional investors, with a maturity of 5 years. The issue was oversubscribed twice compared to the target size of the private ...
OTP Bank Romania reports 14 million RON in H1 2002 losses
Monday, August 15, 2022
OTP Bank Romania has recorded a loss of 14 million RON in H1 2022 mainly as a result of rising risk costs, the bank announced on Thursday.Operating profit in the first six months of 2022 reached 86 million RON, double the one in the same period of 2021, as the positive effect of a 22% increase in total revenues, partially diminished by an increase of +10 % of operating expenses, according to the bank's H1 2022 financial report published in Budapest, in which the ...
Annual inflation rate drops to 14.96% in July
Monday, August 15, 2022
The annual inflation rate dropped to 14.96% in July this year, from 15.1% in June, as prices of non-food goods climbed by 16.59%, those of food commodities were higher by 16.05%, and services were more expensive by 8.33%, according to data published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS)."Consumer prices in July 2022 compared to June 2022 increased by 0.9%. The inflation rate at the beginning of the year (July 2022 compared to December 2021) is ...
Interest rates continue to grow amid fears of stagflation, consumers feeling the pain
Monday, August 15, 2022
The latest good labor data in the United States is adding to the narrative of a new aggressive rate increase by the Fed in September. The European Central Bank started to raise interest rates too but the countries in Central and Eastern Europe are ahead of the pack having the top four largest interest rates in the European Union. In Romania, at the end of last week, the National Bank increased the ...
Card transactions doubled in 2022, compared to the same period of 2019
Monday, August 15, 2022
Financial institution Capital Financial Services S.A., which operates under the Twispay brand, processed, in the first half of 2022, over 500,000 card transactions, worth almost 30 million Euros. While the number of transactions is double compared to the same period in 2019, before the start of the pandemic, the total value is about 10% higher. Moreover, the average transaction decreased from 127 Euros in 2019 to 53 ...
EBRD: Romania Agricover Credit IFN 20m loan under RLF
Monday, August 15, 2022
Project Description EUR 20 million unsecured multicurrency (EUR or RON) loan (the 'Project') in two equal tranches (the first one committed and the second one uncommitted) to Agricover Credit IFN SA ('ACIFN') under the Resilience and Livelihoods Framework ('RLF'). Project Objectives The project will help ACIFN to increase lending to farmers (MSMEs) ...
ANAF: About 1 million legal, other entities enrolled with tax admin's virtual space on June 30
Monday, August 15, 2022
Almost 1 million legal entities and other entities (951,579) were registered with the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) virtual private space as of June 30, 2022, up 24,039 from late May 2022, according to an H1 2022 ANAF activity report."Since H1 2022, important steps have been taken to achieve the objectives set for 2022. Thus, three of the targets and milestones established under the Council of the European Union's implementation decision for ...
ASF: Competition on Romania's motor third-party liability market rises as quotes drop
Monday, August 15, 2022
After H1 2022, Romania's market for the RCA motor third-party liability insurance confirms having managed to overcome the effects of the City Insurance SA, a former leading RCA insurer, having left the market, according to data with the Financial Oversight Authority (ASF)."The efficiency of the unprecedented measures taken by the Financial Oversight Authority (ASF), both in terms of legislation and in terms of control and oversight, is ...
BNR Board decisions on monetary policy
Monday, August 8, 2022
In its meeting of 5 August 2022, the Board of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) decided: to increase the monetary policy rate to 5.50 percent per annum, from 4.75 percent per annum, as of 8 August 2022; to raise the lending (Lombard) facility rate to 6.50 percent per annum from 5.75 percent per annum and the ...