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Financial & Banking
EC retorts to Valcov on anti-banks campaign
Monday, February 4, 2019
The Representation of the European Commission to Romania has reminded Romanians who have a bank account which are the benefits they are entitled to when making payments in the EU or when they get cash out of an ATM while in a member state. The statement comes after PM Dancila’s state adviser, Darius Valcov, has recently said that he takes his salary cash „in an envelope”, also claiming he knows people who „ran out of money due to the bank ...
Shareholders of the Bucharest Stock Exchange OK local Central Counterparty, a EUR 16 million project
Monday, February 4, 2019
Shareholders of the Bucharest Stock ...
Finance Ministry gives up taking loans from commercial banks, will use the buffer
Monday, February 4, 2019
Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici has announced on Tuesday he has decided that the ministry will not take any more loans from the domestic market, adding that the treasury has the needed amounts of money for at least six months. The decision comes after the developments on Monday, when the Finance Ministry tried to get loans amounting to RON 400 million from commercial banks. The 7 primary dealers submitted several offers of about 30% of the demanded amount, but the ministry turned ...
Unicredit: Romania to see 3.5 pct inflation in 2019 and economic growth of only 1 pct in 2020
Monday, February 4, 2019
The Romanian government could have difficulty maintaining the budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP despite the higher taxes in the banking, energy and telecommunications sectors as well as higher excise duties, according to a report by Unicredit Bank. The economic growth rate is expected to fall below potential by 2020, while a risk of a technical recession grows, the report shows. Below is a breakdown of the most important predictions by Unicredit in its Q1 2019 ...
Patria Bank sells EUR 70 mln NPL bundle to Kruk
Monday, February 4, 2019
Romania’s Patria Bank sold to Kruk Romania a bundle of 934 non-performing secured loans (NPL) granted to legal persons and individuals, with a nominal value of RON 332 million (EUR 70 mln), the bank announced on January 25. This was the second phase of Patria Bank’s NPL sale project started in 2018, which was aimed at improving the profitability indicators, which have already shown a positive trend beginning with the second quarter of 2018. In October 2018, Patria ...
Competition Council starts analysis on ROBOR level
Monday, February 4, 2019
The Competition Council (CC) has started an analysis on the ROBOR level in the latest period of time, given the index’s fluctuation after the GEO 114 on fiscal measures, Bogdan Chiritoiu, the institution’s chief, said on Monday. “We are conducting an analysis about ROBOR. We aim at ROBOR not the exchange rate, as debates were carried out and we are interested to see the consequences of Ordinance 114,” Chiritoiu said, according to ...
BNR struggling to find balance between exchange rates and interest rates amid lack of fiscal predictability and concern from investors
Monday, January 28, 2019
National Bank of Romania (BNR) spokesman Dan Suciu claims that the depreciation of the Romanian leu cannot be linked to a speculative attack, even though the euro reached a record level of 4.7569 lei on Wednesday, but confirms that there were some pressures on the exchange rate related to a lack of credibility for investors holding the RON currency, http://business-review.eu reads. “I wouldn’t call ...
Cristian Bichi, BNR: Tax on bank assets is different in Poland and Hungary
Monday, January 28, 2019
Romania, Poland and Hungary are the only countries in the European Union that collect an asset tax from banks, but in Poland and Hungary the taxation of banks and other financial institutions was based on the adoption of laws after consultation with the European Central Bank by the Hungarian Economy Ministry and the Polish Parliament, writes Cristian Bichi, advisor to the central bank governor, in an article published on the BNR Opinion blog, cited by Agerpres, ...
UK analysts warn: Romania’s currency is vulnerable; EUR could reach a value of RON 5 this year
Monday, January 28, 2019
The euro could reach a value of RON 5 this year, according to Liam Carson, an analyst from the macroeconomic research firm Capital Economics, cited by Reuters quoted by http://business-review.eu. The euro grew by more than 1 percent in less than a month, and reached historical maximums on every day of the past week. Yesterday’s exchange rate was RON 4.7142/EUR. New taxes on banks, telecommunications and energy companies, ...
Economists cut Romania’s GDP growth forecast in 2019 below 3 pct following new tax announcements
Monday, January 28, 2019
Analysts have begun to significantly cut their forecast regarding the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in Romania this year following the introduction of new taxes by the government as they estimate these measures will affect major sectors of the economy. Banca Transilvania analysts has recently announced that they cut their GDP growth forecast to 2.8 percent in 2019 as private consumption, the main driver of economic growth during the last ...
What to Expect in 2019: Overall Well-performing Economy, Essentially Conditioned by Legal Stability and Investments - 2019 Outlook on Romania
Monday, January 28, 2019
By Johan Meyer, CEO Franklin Templeton Investments Bucharest Branch and Portfolio Manager of Fondul Proprietatea Romania has again been one of the best performing economies in the European Union in 2018, with an estimated 4% real GDP growth year-on-year. However, following record growth and significant acceleration in the last couple of years, Romania’s economy is currently set for a rather uncertain ...
BVB: Romanian blue-chip index drops almost 5 percent in 2018, ending six-year consecutive growth
Monday, January 28, 2019
The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) closed 2018 with a 4.77 percent decrease of the local market's blue-chip index, the BET, which includes the most traded 15 companies, BVB said in a release."The Romanian stock market closed 2018 in the negative after the BET index dropped 4.77 percent, thus ending six years of straight growth. The BET-TR, which includes the dividends paid by BET companies, succeeded however to stay positive, with a plus of 4.3 percent, which - ...
Competition Council: We have not found evidence of a possible understanding between banks
Monday, January 28, 2019
In the investigation of the behavior of banks during October to November 2008, finalized in 2013, no evidence was found of a possible understanding between banks, the Competition Council has announced in response to Senator Daniel Zamfir’s statements. The Competition Council says that the investigation into the behavior of banks during October – November 2008, due to the malfunctioning of the monetary market (the climax of the international ...
BNR: Monetary indicators – December 2018
Monday, January 28, 2019
At end-December 2018, broad money (M3) amounted to RON 381,161.0 million, up 1.3 percent (1.1 percent in real terms) month on month. In year-on-year comparison, broad money rose 8.9 percent (5.4 percent in real terms), Romanian central bank (BNR) said în a press release. At end-December 2018, non-government loans granted by credit institutions advanced 0.1 percent (down 0.02 percent in real terms) from November 2018 to ...
EY: In 2019 infringement procedure on VAT payment mechanism can go on
Monday, January 21, 2019
The European Union sent Romania, last Fall, a formal notification about the VAT payment mechanism, while in 2019 Romania will have to take measures in this respect, otherwise the infringement procedure could go on, Ioana Iorgulescu, Associate Partner Indirect Taxes EY Romania, at the 13th edition of the EY Annual Fiscal Conference. “In November 2018, the European Commission sent Romania a formal notification about the VAT payment mechanism, in ...
Number of individual debtors with loans denominated in Swiss francs decreased down to 20,651 in Nov
Monday, January 21, 2019
The number of individual debtors with loans denominated in Swiss francs decreased down to 20,651 in November 2018, from 38,519 in December 2016, according to data released by the National Bank of Romania (BNR). "According to the operative information reported by the credit institutions in Romania, the number of individual debtors with loans denominated in Swiss francs decreased down to 20,651 in November 2018, from 38,519 in December 2016 (and 75,412 in ...
Banks in Romania react to new taxes: a Bermuda Pentagon, a “perfect storm” at horizon
Monday, January 21, 2019
The main banks in Romania have reacted on Friday to the new taxes imposed by the government for this year, saying that these measures will have a huge impact on credit activity and on the entire economy, http://business-review.eu reads. The heads of the main banks said that the new taxes risk generating “a perfect storm” in the economy, as investment plans will be frozen, credit activity will decelerate and many companies ...
Deloitte sees no impact of new taxes on Romania’s M&A market
Monday, January 21, 2019
The merger and acquisition (M&A) market in Romania will total around 100 deals in 2019, remaining at a level similar to that prevailing over the past decade (2008-2018), according to estimates by Deloitte Romania Financial Services quoted by romania-insider.com. The average transaction value for 2019 is estimated by Deloitte Romania between EUR 40 and 50 million, slightly above the average of EUR 40 million in the last ...
FinMin plans to restrict deductibility of bank provisions
Monday, January 21, 2019
Romania’s Government plans to no longer accept as deductible for taxation purposes the provisions set aside by banks for non-performing loans, finance minister Eugen Teodorovici admitted in a show at Antena 3. The provisions will be deducted only when the debtor defaults. Banks set aside provisions for problematic loans proportional to their risk category and includes the principal, the interest, fees and penalties. At ...
December 2018: Annual inflation down to 1.6% in the euro area; Down to 1.7% in the EU
Monday, January 21, 2019
The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.6% in December 2018, down from 1.9% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 1.4%. European Union annual inflation was 1.7% in December 2018, down from 2.0% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 1.7%. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The lowest annual rates were registered in Greece and Portugal (both 0.6%) and Denmark ...