Finance Minister Adrian Câciu has stated that Romania is very stable at the moment and there will be no more fiscal adjustments until at least 2025. According to the Finance Minister, Romania needs to understand that the transfer to production economy, with added value and no longer dependent on the trade balance, is the future. He has added, among other things, that 6% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product has gone to economy and citizens in 2022, and at least the same figure may be allocated in 2023 as well.
The World Bank is currently analyzing the fiscal measures introduced by the Government in July, through Government Ordinance (OG) 16, according to Profit.ro. The analysis conducted by the World Bank, within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), will be an opportunity to make some changes to OG 16, although these would most likely be of a technical nature and will depend on the decisions to be made within the ruling Coalition, persons close to the matter have reported. The measures introduced through OG 16 were the most significant fiscal changes made in the past few years, as part of the commitments made under PNRR, supported with EU funds.
Trade between Romania and Germany has followed an upward trend, having totaled EUR 35.1 billion at the end of 2021 and EUR 23.3 billion at the middle of this year. Direct German investments in Romania stood at EUR 12.55 billion at the end of 2021, according to the German Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Romania, H.E. Peer Gebauer.
ING Bank Romania has announced that it will continue to grant loans with state guarantees and subsidized interest rates to Romanian entrepreneurs, for the third consecutive year, within the SME Invest Plus 2022 program. The institution has received more than 18,000 applications and has granted over RON 3 billion loans since 2020, when the first edition of the IMM Invest program started, of which about 80% went to micro and small-sized enterprises, according to data provided by ING Bank officials.
Raiffeisen Bank, the local subsidiary of the Austrian group bearing the same name, has reported a RON 920 million net profit for the first nine months of 2022, up by 43% year-on-year, while the bank’s revenues grew by 19% year-on-year, to RON 2.3 billion, according to the institution’s financial report. Total assets exceeded RON 62 billion on 30 September, up by 9% against the similar period of 2021.
Banca Românească is to carry out, over the next three months, a promotional campaign for the shopping card within which any new card issue comes with zero maintenance fee for one year, and the minimum threshold for which holders can make transactions in instalments at POSs will be reduced to RON 150, from RON 200, according to a press release. The cited source also indicates that the campaign started on 1 November 2022 and will end on 31 January 2023 and will offer new holders access to worry-free shopping during the winter holidays, as well as the possibility to pay local taxes and charges in instalments.
Building materials manufacturer DAW Bența Romania, owned by Remus Aurel Bența and German giant DAW SE, has inaugurated an approximately EUR 7 million investment in a decorative bricks factory, located in Sâncraiu de Mureș, Mureș County. The investment was made through shareholders’ capital contribution, with EUR 1.3 million governmental support for investments and with the help of a loan granted by the company’s financial partner.
Prime Kapital has announced a massive new investment project in Romania, namely a new large-scale urban regeneration project in Cluj-Napoca, aimed at turning a 17.1 hectare industrial platform into a multifunctional development to include several types of buildings. The project will consist of a shopping center with approximately 75,000 square meters of leasable space, a residential complex with about 1,400 high quality apartments and an office component with more than 49,000 leasable square meters. Total development costs exceed EUR 330 million.
Curiera remains committed to its sustainability goal and has invested in business development in 2022, thus fulfilling the company’s mission to deliver parcels to beneficiaries in the most environmentally friendly way possible, according to a press release. The cited source also indicates that, starting this week, 13 of the 17 cars in the courier company’s fleet will be fully electric ones. Curiera will be phasing out its four fuel-powered cars by the end of 2023, and will continue to increase its fleet. Depending on manufacturers’ availability and the ceilings of tax facilities, it estimates that it could add 15 more electric cars to its fleet.
On Wednesday, 2 November, the Romanian Government approved the draft law on the organization and functioning of the National Signals Information System and Romania’s participation in the Schengen Information System. According to a press release issued by the government, the draft law ensures the legal framework necessary for Romania’s participation in the data exchange with Schengen member states, in accordance with the provisions included in the three regulations forming the new European legal basis of the Schengen Information System (SIS) on return, borders and cooperation.
Liberal (PNL) MP Gabriel Andronache has announced that he proposed that scooters’ speed on public roads should be limited to 15 km/h. Scooters can currently run with up to 25 km/h. The number of serious traffic accidents involving scooter riders has increased 20 times in the past four years, according to data made available by the Romanian General Police Inspectorate.
A draft Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG) proposing several changes to tax legislation has been recently put up for public debate at the Ministry of Finance. Among other things, the draft OUG proposes changes or new provisions regarding insolvency. The proposals aim to give tax authorities new powers within insolvencies they act as creditor in.
Several MPs from the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and from Save Romania Union (USR) have submitted a draft law to the Senate which, if adopted, will allow pets’ access to public institutions and public transport. The legislative initiative amends Law 205/2004 on animal protection and introduces three new articles. The Senate is the first notified chamber, while the Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body in this case.
The European Commission wants to reduce the environmental impact of packaging by mandating that producers use a minimum amount of recycled plastic in new packaging placed on the market. Only 5% of plastic in packaging came from recycled sources in 2019, according to industry group Plastics Europe. And recyclers face an uphill battle to sell secondary materials in a market dominated by cheaper and higher-quality virgin supplies. To tackle this, Brussels is expected to boost the demand for recycled plastic by broadening recycled content targets from plastic bottles to all plastic packaging.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.2% in September, 0.1% higher than in August, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The number of unemployed aged 15-74 estimated for September 2022 was 432,700 persons, higher than in the previous month (422,500 persons), yet slightly lower than in September 2021 (432,800 persons).