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Financial & Banking
Romania to settle imbalances before scheduling euro adoption
Monday, January 18, 2021
Government deferred with no clear calendar the adoption of the single European currency, arguing that the country must first meet the convergence criteria, according to a response sent by the Executive to lawmakers at the end of last year. "Romania is currently facing multiple macroeconomic imbalances, some of them deepening in the context of the pandemic. Thus, the nominal convergence criteria regarding the public ...
BVB: Total transactions worth almost EUR 4 billion performed on the Romanian capital market in 2020
Monday, January 18, 2021
New all-time high trading value with all types of financial instruments traded on the main segment of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) in 2020: almost RON 18.3 billion, the equivalent of EUR 3.77 billion. It is the highest value in the history of the Romanian stock market. Record-breaking values were also recorded for the average daily liquidity with all the types of financial ...
WB revises downwards its projections for Romanian economy's 2021 recovery
Monday, January 11, 2021
The Romanian economy is expected to grow 3.5 percent this year, after a contraction of 5 percent in 2020, and is next seen picking up to 4.1 percent in 2022, according to the World Bank's January 2021 Global Economic Prospects, the financial organization's latest report on the outlooks for the world economy.In October last year, the World Bank forecast that the Romanian economy will shrink 5.7 percent in 2020, but will bounce back 4.9 percent in ...
BNR’s International reserves – December 2020
Monday, January 11, 2021
On 31 December 2020, the National Bank of Romania’s (BNR) foreign exchange reserves stood at EUR 37,379 million, compared to EUR 33,393 million on 30 November 2020. During the month, the following flows were recorded: EUR 7,038 million worth of inflows representing changes in credit institutions’ foreign currency-denominated required reserves, ...
Three strategic directions for the Fiscal Code in 2021
Monday, January 11, 2021
* The new form of the Fiscal Code, which entered into force on 1 January 2021, adapts Romania to the new reality by eliminating discrimination, making fiscal compliance easier and aligning Romanian legislation with international standards in the context of the globalized economy. “The pandemic has highlighted weaknesses in each area, and the fiscal framework is essential for a large majority of them. The ...
Sergiu Oprescu will lead Alpha Bank’s international division
Monday, January 11, 2021
Sergiu Oprescu, the executive president of Alpha Bank Romania, has been appointed as president of the Greek Alpha Bank Group's international banking division, Ziarul ...
Dutch group NN reach 5% stake in OMV Petrom
Monday, January 11, 2021
Dutch asset management group has reached a stake of 5.03% in Romania's biggest energy company - OMV Petrom (SNP), according to a report on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. According to the notification, several funds managed by NN Group's local and international divisions currently hold 2.85 billion OMV Petrom shares, worth RON 1.1 billion (EUR 227 ...
Mandatory private pension funds boast higher returns than voluntary ones
Monday, January 11, 2021
The weighted average rate of return for mandatory private pension funds (Pillar II) in Romania went up to nearly 4.9% in November (for medium-risk funds), after plunging to just over 3% in April at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, reported the financial markets' regulator ASF. For the higher-risk funds, the return neared 5%. The volume of assets under the management of the mandatory private ...
Assets of optional pension funds top 2.8 bln lei as of November 27, 2020
Monday, January 11, 2021
As of November 27, 2020 optional pension funds held assets worth over 2.8 bln lei, up 15.26 percent YoY, the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) announced.Government securities account for the highest share of this amount, with 1.825 bln lei (64.10 pct), followed by stocks with 712.819 mln lei (25.03 pct) and units in collective investment undertakings with 93.556 mln lei (3.29 pct).Assets of Pillar III pension funds totaled 2.847 bln as of ...
Vista Bank acquires Credit Agricole Romania
Monday, January 11, 2021
Vista Bank announced the conclusion of a deal to acquire a full 100 percent stake in Credit Agricole Romania; the acquisition is expected to be completed during the first half of this year, after it gets the approval of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) and of the Competition Council, the bank said in a release.After the acquisition is completed, Vista Bank will hold total assets of over 1.2 billion euros, loans worth 750 million euros, deposits worth 1.1 ...
Four out of ten Romanians manage to economise in pandemic
Monday, January 11, 2021
Approximately four out of ten Romanians have managed to economise (39 pct) during the pandemic, as compared to a pre-pandemic normal month, when two thirds of the respondents (68 pct) managed to do so, reveals a study conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES), commissioned by the Romanian Association of Banks.Thus, the study "The digitization of the banking system in the Romanians' perception," conducted in December 2020, also ...
Deloitte assisted VIG in the acquisition of Aegon assets in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Turkey
Monday, January 11, 2021
Deloitte assisted the Austrian insurer Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (VIG) in the acquisition of the Dutch group Aegon’s non-life and life insurance, pension and asset management businesses in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Turkey. With a purchase price of EUR 830 million, this is one of Central Europe’s largest deals in the financial industry in ...
Senate: Loan agreement between Romania, IBRD, worth 500ln euros, adopted
Monday, January 4, 2021
The Senate adopted, on last Monday, the bill initiated by the Government regarding the ratification of the Loan Agreement (result-based program in Romania's health sector) between Romania and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), worth 500 million euros.The agreement was signed in New York on September 23, 2019, amended and updated by the Letter of Amendment signed between Romania and the International Bank for Reconstruction and ...
Payment of bank installments can be postponed for a maximum period of 9 months
Monday, January 4, 2021
Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Wednesday that the Government had adopted an ordinance according to which the payment of bank installments could be postponed for a maximum period of 9 months."It is about amending Ordinance 37 on granting some facilities for loans extended by credit institutions and non-banking financial institutions to certain categories of debtors. It is about extending the deferral of payment of installments to the bank. (...) If you ...
Deposits of non-government resident customers rise by 1.5% in November
Monday, January 4, 2021
Deposits of non-government resident customers have gone up in November 2020, by 1.5% as opposed to the previous month, to the level of 410,279 million RON and by 15% (12.6% in real terms) as opposed to the same month of the previous year, says the Romanian National Bank (BNR) in a press release .Resident deposits in RON, with a share of 64.4% from the total of non-government clients, have gone up by 1.2% as opposed to October 2020, up to 264,420 million RON, ...
Non-government loan increases by 0.7 pct in November
Monday, January 4, 2021
The non-government loan granted by credit institutions increased in November 2020 by 0.7 pct compared to October 2020 (0.5 pct in real terms), to the level of 281,001 billion lei, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) informs in a press release.The loan in (national currency) lei, with a share of 69.3 pct in the total volume of non-government credit, increased by 1.1 pct and foreign currency credit expressed in lei, with a share of 30.7 pct in total ...
Romania has to pay EUR 11.2 M to the WB in 2021
Monday, January 4, 2021
Romania will have to pay EUR 11.2 million to the World Bank (WB) in 2021, from the loan taken out in 2009, according to the Ministry of Public Finance. The sum actually represents interests commissions. The World Bank is the only institution that Romania has to reimburse money by 2023, as the loans from the EU and IMF were paid entirely, with the last installments being paid in 2019 (to the European ...
REI Finance Advisors tripled its business and consultants’ team in 2020 and will reach over 100 specialists in 2021
Monday, January 4, 2021
REI Finance Advisors, one of the most dynamic companies specialized in consultancy services for attracting European funds and state aids, tripled its business and its team of consultants, after reaching 8 regional offices across the country in 2020. The evolution comes as a part of the development strategy at the national level, both in the context of the measures announced by the Romanian Government to support the companies affected by COVID-19, as well as the measures to ...
BNR: Banking sector's financial situation in 2021 allows it to finance without constraints
Monday, January 4, 2021
The Romanian banking sector remains in 2021 as well with a financial situation that will allow it to continue financing without constraints on the solvency and liquidity side, said on Wednesday Florian Neagu, Deputy Director of Financial Stability Department, the National Bank of Romania (BNR)."We have recently completed the annual stress testing exercise of the banking sector, and the good news is that even in an adverse scenario, the main banks in the ...
Private pension market successfully rides out storm launched by SARS-CoV-2 virus
Monday, January 4, 2021
The private pension market of Romania has successfully crossed the storm that was launched by the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus, which rewrites the history of mankind and leaves deep wounds in the global financial ecosystem, according to an analysis made my the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF).According to the quoted source, the private pension system has known a positive evolution throughout its functioning, its total assets and number of participants ...