Annual inflation rate in the European Union reached an all-time high of
9.2% in 2022 and tripled compared to 2021, when the annual value had
been 2.9%, according to data published by Eurostat on Thursday.
Compared to 2021, annual inflation rose in all major economies of the
world; it reached 8.7% in the United States, it stood at 2.5% in Japan
and it climbed to 2% in China. According to Eurostat, the biggest price
increases in the European Union in 2022 were recorded in the housing,
water, electricity, gas and other fuels categories.
Finance Minister Adrian Câciu answered, during the Senate’s plenary
session, a question from former Prime Minister and former Minister of
Finance, Liberal Senator Florin Cîțu, who stated that in January,
Romania had borrowed money at an interest rate of 7%, 1% higher than
Hungary, which had had a 7% higher inflation rate than Romania. He said
that the interest rates at which Romania had borrowed from the
beginning of this year up to present were within the financing costs
set by the fiscal-budgetary strategy approved by Parliament last year.
Romania’s public debt decreased to 47.2% of GDP in December 2022, from
48.3% in November 2022 and from 48.9% in 2021, according to Finance
Ministry data. Public investment spending for 2023 is expected to reach
7.2% of GDP. Euro-denominated debt stood at RON 302.89 billion
(equivalent) at the end of last year, national currency-denominated
debt amounted to RON 306.75 billion, and the US dollar-denominated debt
was RON 56.35 billion (equivalent). Local government debt grew to RON
18.93 billion.
A number of 64,402 individuals part of the wealthiest Romanians
category had deposits over EUR 100,000 with a cumulative value of about
RON 72 billion (equivalent to nearly EUR 15 billion) at the end of
2022, according to the latest statistics of the Bank Deposit Guarantee
Fund (FGDB). Deposits above the EUR 100,000 threshold accounted for
almost a quarter (23.7%) of the total balance of RON- and foreign
currency-denominated household deposits, which exceeded RON 300 billion
(about EUR 61 billion) at the end of 2022.
The Ministry of Finance (MF) borrowed RON 982 million from banks on
Thursday, through two benchmark government bond issues, according to
data published by the National Bank of Romania (NBR), Agerpres reports.
The nominal value of the issue was RON 400 million and the banks
subscribed RON 372 million. An additional auction is scheduled for
Friday, with the state seeking to attract another RON 60 million at the
yield set for the bonds on Thursday.
The Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) is considering capping the
prices of mandatory civil liability car insurance (RCA) policies for a
fixed period of time, with options being analyzed by specialists. The
decision would apply to both individuals and companies. According to an
ASF report, in February 2023, the reference rates for RCA policies
ranged from RON 1,210 to RON 1,646. The increase was between RON 183
and RON 211 compared to August last year. In percentage terms, the
advance was between 13.8% and 17.8%.
Philip Morris International, one of the biggest companies activating in
the tobacco industry and in the research and development of smoke-free
products globally, has invested over USD 1 billion in Romania. The
company has had an annual economic impact of over EUR 927 million, or
0.38% of Romania’s GDP. Taxes and duties paid annually amounted to RON
2.6 billion or 1.15% of the state budget.
ING Bank Romania has provided EUR 13.4 million financing to Alconor, a
company with entirely Romanian capital, activating in the production of
soft drinks and pet food. Alconor aims to use the financing to
strengthen its dry pet food segment by increasing production capacity
and product portfolio, as well as by improving national coverage. ING
says the partnership with Alconor dates back to 2014.
Romanian luxury jewelry chain Teilor, present in the Central and
Eastern European region, has opened its fourth physical store in
Bulgaria, in a new city, Plovdiv, after the three already operating in
Sofia. The new opening marks the brand’s fiftieth store
internationally. With the new store in Bulgaria, the first unit opened
by the company in 2023, Teilor has reached 65 physical stores in
Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
During the meeting on Thursday, the government adopted a draft law on
representative actions for the protection of consumers’ collective
interests. The Minister of Economy explained that the draft law aimed
to implement a European directive and ensured protection for Romanian
consumers. Moreover, non-resident consumers who could be affected on
Romania’s territory can also be protected by declaring their interest
and express consent.
Education Minister Ligia Deca stated on Thursday, 9 March, that the
draft education laws currently included the proposal already presented
last week, regarding admission to high school after the national
assessment, for specializations where there is competition. The
minister also indicated that they had received around 470 emails, by 7
March, containing proposals to amend the draft laws. Ligia Deca said
that after this stage of debates in the Government, of endorsement, the
laws adopted by the Government and with the ruling coalition’s support,
would enter the democratic stage of parliamentary debate.
Debates on the pre-university education law have raised several
interesting issues that the Ministry of Education should resolve as
soon as possible. Coaliţia pentru Educaţie (Coalition for Education)
Federation has called for the draft law on pre-university education to
provide a high level of autonomy and to allow assuming decisions and
responsibilities for learning, including at student level.
The emergency use of all banned plant protection products in the EU
could soon be a thing of the past, according to the European
Commission’s initial reading of the recent EU court ruling involving
specifically bee-toxic pesticides. With the ruling, announced in
January of this year, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed
that member states would no longer be allowed to grant derogations
temporarily permitting the use of seeds treated with "expressly banned"
plant protection products by EU law.
More than four out of ten Romanians believe that a hybrid system, with
3-4 days a week of office work, will dominate the year 2023, and more
than a quarter bet on the system with 1-2 days per week at the office,
according to a press release sent to Bursa daily. Thus, a quarter of
employees believe that work from the office exclusively will
predominate this year, and only 7% are betting on remote-only work,
according to a survey conducted by Genesis Property on 1,031
respondents at national level in October.