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Financial & Banking
Finance Ministry accesses EUR 90 million loans from IBRD for emergency risk mitigation
Monday, July 15, 2019
Representatives of the Ministry of Public Finance (MFP) and of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) signed on Wednesday two loan agreements worth a total of 90 million euro aimed at mitigating risks in emergency situations, informs MFP.The first agreement, amounting to 50 million euro, targets the Improving Resilience and Emergency Response Project and the second, worth 40 million euro, the Infrastructure Consolidation and Emergency ...
Romania borrows EUR 5 bln from foreign markets since the beginning of the year
Monday, July 15, 2019
The Romanian Ministry of Finance borrowed EUR 2 billion on July 9, on its second exit on international financial markets this year, after in March it borrowed a record of EUR 3 billion in three ...
European Investment Bank finances new campus of Polytechnic University of Bucharest with 25 million euros
Monday, July 15, 2019
The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a loan of 25 million euros for the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (UPB), to increase quality, efficiency of the teaching, learning and research processes at one of the top educational institutions in Romania, reads a release of the EIB.The loan will be used to finance the rearrangement of the UPB campus, with a new building to be made to host the three faculties located now in the Polizu complex. The objective is to ...
National gov't arrears drop by 12.27pct, Jan.-May, 2019
Monday, July 15, 2019
Romania's national government arrears decreased by 12.27pct in the first five months of 2019, from 192.62 million lei in December 2018 to 168.99 million lei in May 2019, according to data posted on the website of the Ministry of Public Finance.Older-then-90-day arrears decreased by 25.86pct, from 73.1 million lei in December 2018 to 54.2 million lei in May 2019.In May, as against the previous month, arrears decreased by 9.52 million lei, from 178.51 ...
Daniel Daianu resigns from central bank board, named member of Fiscal Council
Monday, July 15, 2019
Daniel Daianu has resigned from the position of nonexecutive member of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) board just a few days after he failed to secure another term. Daianu was named a member of the Fiscal Council. “Taking into account the appointment of Mr. Daniel Daianu as a member of the Fiscal Council, we hereby notify you of his withdrawal from the post of non-executive member of the BNR board starting with July 8, 2019,” the central ...
Study:Four out of ten Romanians believe they will save less this year
Monday, July 15, 2019
Almost 40% of Romanians believe they will save less this year than in 2018, according to a study by Mind the Gap on the evolution of household spending, ...
BNR Board decided to keep the monetary policy rate at 2.50 percent per annum
Monday, July 8, 2019
In its meeting of 4 July 2019, the Board of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) decided: to keep the monetary policy rate at 2.50 percent per annum; to leave unchanged the deposit facility rate at 1.50 percent per annum and the lending facility rate at 3.50 percent per annum; to ...
Mugur Isarescu starts another 5-year term as the head of BNR
Monday, July 8, 2019
Mugur Isarescu, currently the longest serving central bank governor in the world, has secured another 5-year term at the head of Romania’s central bank as it won the support of the ruling governing alliance and of opposition parties. The Romanian Parliament has approved on Wednesday the new members of the executive board of the central bank (BNR). Isarescu, aged 70, is ending in October 2019 his current 5-year term at the head of the central bank ...
Government’s upcoming fiscal amnesty enrages honest taxpayers
Monday, July 8, 2019
The fiscal amnesty announced again in June by the Finance minister Eugen Teodorovici is causing discontent in the private sector, as many small business owners disagree with the government’s decision. Although the Finance minister has spoken about the fiscal amnesty on several occasions this year, it is ...
FinMin Teodorovici : Govt. “is missing” some 0.7% of GDP to fill budget gap
Monday, July 8, 2019
The budget “is missing RON 7 billion (EUR 1.5 billion, or some 0.7% of GDP), which the Government has to find in order to cover the deficit”, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici announced at the meeting of the senior ruling Socialist Party (PSD) on July 3, quoted ...
Ionut Badiu is the new GM of Aforti Finance IFN
Monday, July 8, 2019
Aforti Group, Polish financial group present in Romania since October 2017, has appointed Ionut Badiu as the General Manager of Aforti Finance Romania IFN S.A., a non-banking financial institution specialized in providing SME loans. Ionut Badiu has over 12 years’ experience working in local and international financial institutions, in different managerial roles, both in Romania and abroad. His appointment in the GM ...
Valeria Ronzitti (CEEP): Excessive bureaucracy is often the reason why EU funds remain unused
Monday, July 8, 2019
BR was at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council and we spoke to Valeria Ronzitti, the General Secretary of the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services (CEEP), which represents employers in public utilities like water, energy, transport, social services, education, administration and many others – in short, the infrastructure needed for the private sector to be able to prosper. We asked her about the most important changes she believes ...
BCR to explore blockchain technology with Modex’s Blockchain Database software solution
Monday, July 8, 2019
Modex, a company specializing in blockchain technology, has announced that it would expand its relationship with the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) after the BCR-InnovX Accelerator, a program for tech companies developing dedicated solutions for areas such as cyber-security, fintech, artificial intelligence, automatic learning , robotics, cloud, automation or microservices. Through the InnovX program, BCR asserted its support for the technology-driven ...
Unicredit Bank gets first GDPR-related fine issued in Romania
Monday, July 8, 2019
Unicredit Bank is the recipient of the first fine related to GDPR in Romania, with a value of EUR 130,000, following an investigation into personal data use by the National Supervisory Authority. The sanction was applied to Unicredit Bank S.A. as a result of the failure to apply appropriate technical and organizational measures, both in ...
CEC Bank makes credit granting process Start-up Nation flexible
Monday, July 1, 2019
CEC Bank grants Start-up Nation credits with COSME guarantee at a level of 50% of financing value, according to a bank press release. COSME Loan Guarantee Facility (COSME LGF) is a guarantee instrument developed by the European Investment Fund and implemented through CEC Bank, with a view to granting credits to small companies which, under standard conditions, would have limited access to financing. “Through this ...
BNR: Monetary indicators – May 2019
Monday, July 1, 2019
At end- May 2019, broad money (M3) amounted to RON 389,250.6 million, down 0.2 percent (or 0.7 percent in real terms) month-on-month. In year-on-year comparison, broad money rose by 9.1 percent (4.8 percent in real terms), Central bank (BNR) data show. At end- May 2019, non-government loans loans to non-government sector granted by credit institutions advanced by 0.4 percent (down 0.1 percent in real terms) from April 2019 to ...
Assets of optional pension schemes over 2.2 bln lei on 31 May 2019
Monday, July 1, 2019
Assets held by optional pension schemes amounted to over 2.21 billion lei on 31 May 2019, up 18.1 percent YoY, according to the data released by the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF).Government securities account for the highest share, with 1.245 billion lei (56.34 percent), followed by shares with 489.293 million lei (22.13 percent). Corporate bonds ranked third with 208.163 million lei, or 9.41 percent of the total assets.According to the ASF ...
Alpha Bank Romania’s first covered bond issue listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange
Monday, July 1, 2019
Alpha Bank Romania listed this week on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BCE) its inaugural EUR 200 million euro-denominated covered bond issue, a first for the financial and banking sector in Romania. The bond, which has a five-year maturity and pays a floating rate coupon, is backed by prime Romanian residential mortgages and is rated Baa2 by Moody’s. The transaction attracted strong investor interest from both local and ...
Lower House passes amendments to debt discharge law
Monday, July 1, 2019
The Chamber of Deputies adopted on last Wednesday the bill amending the Law on debt discharge by selling off property in order to pay off loan liabilities, which provides, among others, that the 'datio in solutum' is automatically approved if the borrower's indebtedness is at least 20 percent above the maximum indebtedness rate set by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).The bill cleared the Lower House by a vote of 171 to 94 and 11 abstentions.The bill ...
Mandatory private pension funds had assets worth 53.41 billion lei in May, up 24.18 pct
Monday, July 1, 2019
The mandatory private pension funds had assets worth more than 53.41 billion lei, on May 31, 2019, up 24.18 per cent against the same month a year before, according to data provided by the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF).Government bonds hold the highest share among these assets, of 31.58 billion lei, 59.14 per cent respectively. Next are the shares, with 10.279 billion lei (19.25 per cent). Corporate bonds are ranked third with 4.1 billion lei, 7.68pct of ...