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Financial & Banking
BCR and Qualitance launch Casa Mea – the first digital platform in Romania for mortgages
Monday, September 23, 2019
Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), in collaboration with Qualitance, has launched the first digital solution for mortgages that digitalizes and simplifies the process of buying a home, named Casa Mea (My House). All the required documents can be uploaded online by the client, directly in the application, from their phone or computer, which cuts the duration of the entire process by at least 50 percent. “The Casa Mea application is the most courageous ...
Romania ranks 18th in EU by amount of funding attracted through Juncker Plan for strategic investments
Monday, September 23, 2019
Romania has attracted EUR 720 million in funds through the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), also known as the Juncker Plan. The funds are expected to generate private investments worth EUR 2.95 billion, according to profit.ro. Romania ranks 18th among the 28 EU states by the value of funds attracted through the EFSI, behind countries like the Czech Republic and Hungary, but ahead of Slovakia and Bulgaria. France, Italy and Spain have ...
Banca Transilvania to buy back 15 million shares for rewarding employees
Monday, September 23, 2019
Banca Transilvania, the biggest lender in Romania by assets, plans to buy back 15 million shares, until the end of this year, to distribute them to its employees. The buyback price will be no higher than RON 4. The Banca Transilvania shares (ticker TLV) were trading at RON 2.39 on September 19. Considering this price, the bank would have to pay RON 36 million (EUR 7.6 mln) for the shares it plans to distribute to employees. The ...
Banks and fintechs facing cooperation challenge on Romanian market
Monday, September 23, 2019
European deals and funding activity in the fintech sector reached USD 3.3 billion in the first half of 2019, with some of the most dynamic startups in the field moving to launch in Romania. Meanwhile, regulatory challenges and growing competition for conventional banks, which are investing heavily in their digital operations, might see fintechs and lenders focus on cooperation going forward. Fintechs have been growing rapidly across the globe, ...
Gyula Fater (OTP Bank): We might be the only bank in Romania betting on the human touch
Monday, September 23, 2019
OTP Bank Romania plans to double its market share within the next five years, mainly by being more and more customer-centric, OTP Bank’s new CEO Gyula Fater told BR. You are the new CEO of OTP Bank Romania, as of June. What is your experience and how have you found Romania – is it a good country for expats? Before everything else, it’s a beautiful country, I cannot wait to visit more of ...
Balance of payments and external debt – July 2019
Monday, September 16, 2019
According to Central Bank data, in January - July 2019p, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 6,025 million, compared with EUR 4,859 million in the same year-ago period. The deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 2,069 million, the surplus on services income increased by EUR 436 million, the deficit of the primary income balance narrowed by EUR 720 million, and the surplus of the secondary income balance decreased by EUR 253 ...
Two out of five households barely deal with their current spending
Monday, September 16, 2019
Approximately two out of five households (37.6pct) face with difficulty or great difficulty their current spending, and if considering those which barely deal with their daily spending one could reach 80.0pct of the total of the households, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS)'s survey dubbed "Inquiry on life quality" carried out last year.On the other hand, one out of five households has no difficulty in dealing with their current spending, as ...
Tanase (BVB): First time when we have chance to be promoted to emerging market status
Monday, September 16, 2019
Global index provider FTSE Russell will make the announcement on whether they will upgrade or not the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) to emerging market status on September 26, and this is the first time when the BVB has a chance to be promoted, Adrian Tanase, the BVB CEO told a specialist forum on Friday."On September 26 FTSE will make the announcement on whether they will promote or not the Bucharest Stock Exchange. All I can tell you is that this is the ...
The inflation rate eases to 3.9 pct on cheaper food
Monday, September 16, 2019
Romania’s annual inflation rate declined to 3.9 percent in August, from 4.1 percent in July, as food prices slightly decreased in the last month of the summer. The rate registered in August is slightly above expectations (market consensus at 3.8 percent). Compared with August 2018, the prices of food products rose by 5 percent on average, while non-food products increased by 3 percent. The prices of services went up by 4.2 percent, National ...
BCR cuts fees charged on interbank payments in euro to SEPA countries
Monday, September 16, 2019
Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) has cut, starting in September, the fees on interbank payments in euro in the European Community, bringing them in line with those applied for similar payments in lei, the bank informed in a Tuesday release.Thus, the fee charged by BCR for interbank payments in lei at the bank counter (15 lei for individuals and a maximum of 13 lei for legal persons, depending on the amount of the payment), as well as the one charged for internet ...
Romanian government’s borrowing cost is off the charts in the EU
Monday, September 16, 2019
Romania’s sovereign 10-year bonds yield, a barometer for the cost of financing in the economy, is now off the charts compared with any other European Union member states, amid growing concerns regarding the health of public finances as the growing deficits raise external financing needs to excessive levels, http://business-review.eu reads . Eurostat data show that Romania’s sovereign 10-year bonds ...
Romania's c/a deficit widens 24% y/y in Jan-July
Monday, September 16, 2019
Romania current account balance showed a deficit of 6.025 billion euro ($6.942 billion) in the first seven months of 2019, compared to a gap of 4.859 billion euro in the same period of last year, the central bank said on Friday, citing provisional data. The deficit on trade in goods widened by 2.069 million euro, the surplus on services income increased by 436 million euro, the deficit of the primary income balance narrowed by 720 million euro, ...
FDI into rises 22% y/y in Jan-July
Monday, September 16, 2019
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Romania rose by 22% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2019, to 2.916 billion euro ($3.215 billion), the central bank said on Friday. Equity investment, including estimated net reinvestment of earnings, amounted to 2.102 billion euro and inter-company lending totalled a net 814 million euro at the end of July, the central bank said in a statement, citing provisional data. FDI into ...
Inflation slows down to 3.9% y/y in August
Monday, September 16, 2019
Romania's consumer prices rose by 3.9% year-on-year in August, compared to an increase of 4.1% in the previous month, the national statistical office, INS, said on Wednesday. Food prices increased 5.02% year-on-year in August, while non-food prices added 2.98%, INS said in a statement. Prices of services grew by 4.23% in August. On a monthly comparison basis, Romania's consumer price index (CPI) rose ...
ARB: Romania, the 11th in the EU from the point of view of profitability of the banking sector capital
Monday, September 9, 2019
Romania is the 11th in the EU between 2008-September 2018 from the point of view of the profitability of the capital in the banking sector, with a rate of profitability of the own capital of 4.65%, stated on Friday Gabriela Folcut, the executive manager of the Romanian Association of Banks (ARB) at the conference ' The future of evaluation for loans guarantee'.'Romania is 11th in the EU between 2008 - September 2018 from the point of view of capital profitability, ...
Analysts expect Romania’s currency to remain strong
Monday, September 9, 2019
Romania’s currency (RON) will depreciate by 1.6% against the European single currency (EUR) over the next 12 months, according to a Reuters poll among analysts, quoted ...
Visegrad Four, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia to launch joint CEEplus share index
Monday, September 9, 2019
The stock exchanges of the Visegrad Group of countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary), Croatia, Romania and Slovenia plan to launch a new Three Seas region exchange index, CEEplus, in order to boost their attractiveness and to make their voice stronger across debates concerning EU capital markets, the Budapest bourse said quoted by seenews.com The index portfolio will include the largest and most liquid stocks listed on the exchanges ...
Romania records largest VAT collection gap of all EU countries
Monday, September 9, 2019
Romania lost EUR 6.41 billion in 2017 in uncollected Value-Added Tax (VAT) revenues, the largest share of all EU member states, according to a study released on Thursday by the European Commission. The “VAT gap”is the overall difference between the expected VAT revenue and the amount actually collected by each country. Romania recorded the largest national VAT Gap with 36 percent of VAT revenues going missing in ...
FDI stock in Romania approaches EUR 84 bln
Monday, September 9, 2019
The stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Romania rose by EUR 5.5 billion during the last year up to EUR 83.8 billion, while investment of local investors abroad remains at a modest level. Official data show foreign investors made total direct investment of EUR 83.8 billion Romania until the end of June 2019, an all-time high, up 7 percent (EUR 5.5 billion) against June 2018. At the end of 2017, the main countries of ...
Insurance market up 7.8 pct in H1 2019 to RON 5.4 bln
Monday, September 9, 2019
The Romanian insurance market rose by 7.8 percent in the first half of this year to RON 5.4 billion (EUR 1.1 billion), but remains dominated by car insurances, Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) data show. Compulsory car insurance (RCA) accounts for 57 percent of the insurance market in H1 2019, according to ASF. The life insurance segment rose by 4.6 percent in H1, up to RON 1.12 billion. The biggest increase was registered ...