Monetary policy tightening will slow down global growth as central
banks are reversing their loose policy in response to continued cost
pressures in global supply chains, amplified after Russia’s military
actions in Ukraine destabilized energy, food and key commodity markets,
according to a report released by S&P rating agency. Inflation,
energy security and geopolitical uncertainty are the main risks, the
ratings agency indicated. Moreover, persistent inflation and consumers’
caution could also push the US and possibly Europe into recession, most
likely in 2023.
Euro area annual inflation rate reached a new record high of 9.1% in
August (up from 8.9% the previous month), while in the European Union
(EU) it grew from 9.8% to 10.1%. The highest inflation rates were
recorded in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic,
Bulgaria, Poland, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Romania, according to
data published by the European Union’s Statistical Office (Eurostat).
Compared with July, annual inflation fell in 12 Member States and rose
in 15 others. In Romania, annual inflation rate increased to 13.3% in
August, from 13% in July. Annual inflation rate in Romania stood at 4%
in the same month of 2021.
Wholesale trade turnover (except for trade in motor vehicles and
motorcycles) grew by 27.5% as a gross series and by 27.3% as a working
days and seasonally adjusted series in the first seven months of 2022
compared to the similar period of 2021, according to data published by
the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Friday, 16 September.
Moreover, wholesale trade turnover (except for trade in motor vehicles
and motorcycles) increased by 24.4% as a working days and seasonally
adjusted series in July 2022, compared to July 2021.
Banca Transilvania (stock exchange symbol TLV), the biggest credit
institution in Romania asset-wise, has convened its shareholders for 18
October 2022 to ask them to approve a program of euro- and/or RON-
and/or foreign currency-denominated corporate bond issues, as the case
may be, in market conditions in terms of interest rate, with a maximum
maturity of 10 years and annual or semi-annual coupon frequency,
according to the notice to attend published on Bucharest Stock
Exchange. The bank from Cluj thus wants to raise a maximum of EUR 1
billion or equivalent, based on a flexible structure, through several
separate issues over a maximum period of 10 years and with delegating
powers to set the terms of the issuance program to the Board of
Directors.
UniCredit Bank is to increase its financing capacity for companies in
Romania that have been directly or indirectly affected by the economic
consequences of the conflict in Ukraine through interruptions in supply
chains and other shocks, as well as for small and medium-sized
enterprises. The bank will thus access a senior loan of RON 246 million
over a three year crediting period from the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development.
OTP Bank Romania offers a 100% online current account for legal
entities through 10 packages with costs starting from zero RON, signed
electronically. The product is designed for companies with an annual
turnover of up to EUR 5 million, authorized natural persons (PFA) and
individual enterprises. The account is opened following an online
application, followed by the online registration and the mandatory
video identification, after which the customer obtains secure access to
the Internet & Mobile Banking service for easy account management.
At the end of August, project company Hoopeks International obtained
the technical approval for the connection to the grid of a 629 MW wind
power project in Galaţi, according to public data from Transelectrica,
the operator of the national energy transport system. This is the
largest wind farm approved so far and if it is finalized, it will be
the biggest such investment in Romania. Fântânele-Cogealac is currently
the largest local wind farm, with a capacity of 600 MW, but which is
split into two projects managed by different companies.
Fântânele-Cogealac wind farm is a EUR 1 billion investment made by the
Czech company CEZ in 2010-2012. Given the dropping cost of equipment,
the recently approved investment in Galaţi could amount to about EUR
500 million.
Finnish company Nokian Tyres, one of the biggest tire manufacturers in
the world, which produces for the aftermarket exclusively and does not
supply tires to automotive plants, is considering investing in a new
plant in Romania. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă met with a delegation of
the company at Victoria Palace on Wednesday, 14 September 2022,. The
dialog focused on the state aid packages available for large
investments and the openness towards the need to relocate industrial
production capacities following the Russian military aggression in
Ukraine, but also in Asia. Nokian could thus become the fourth largest
tire manufacturer in Romania after Michelin, Pirelli and Continental.
Automobile Bavaria, the importer of the German group BMW, which owns
the customer center and the first Rolls-Royce authorized service center
in the country in Băneasa, will remodel the area to meet the new
Rolls-Royce standards. This will involve significant investments,
according to Ciprian Bercea, Marketing & Digitalization Director at
Automobile Bavaria. Automobile Bavaria Group entered Romania in 1994,
in Braşov through Michael Schmidt and currently has the largest network
of authorized distributors in Central and Eastern Europe for the BMW
car brand.
Booking Holdings, the US giant that operates several online travel
brands and other associated services, the best known of them being the
Booking.com booking platform, currently has about 50 vacant jobs in its
Center of Excellence in Bucharest, and will thus reach over 200
employees on the local market by the end of the year. Booking Holdings’
Center of Excellence in Romania, where a total of EUR 100 million will
be invested over five years, is the first such center of the US giant
that now supports cybersecurity and fraud monitoring operations, IT
infrastructure and acquisition analysis for brands part of the group,
such as Booking.com and Priceline.com.
Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity has announced that on Friday,
16 September, the Government approved the methodological norms for the
enforcement of Law 196/2016, through which the reform regarding the
minimum inclusion income was recently implemented. According to the
Ministry of Labor, under this reform, the three means-tested social
benefits, namely social assistance, family support allowance and home
heating allowance, have been correlated to form a unitary support
package for underpriviledged categories.
The Government announced on Friday, 16 September, that it had increased
the number of positions in public pre-university education by 2,200.
The Government thus decided to amend Government Decree 369/2021 on the
Education Ministry’s organization and functioning. As a result, the
number of positions in public pre-university education, including
special education, county centers for educational resources and
assistance/Bucharest Municipality’s Center for Educational Resources
and Assistance, necessary for the inclusion of nurseries into the
education system and for covering the shortage of teaching staff in
schools and kindergartens where the number of formations has increased
and for the implementation of the pilot program aimed at providing food
support for pre-school children and pupils in 350 public pre-university
education establishments, has been increased.
On Friday, 16 September, the Government approved an Emergency Ordinance
amending and completing the Environmental Fund Administration (AFM)’s
activity and attributions, a document which stipulates, among other
things, that AFM will be in charge of managing the IT systems that
allow monitoring waste transactions on Romania’s territory, as well as
of some works for closing and greening non-compliant landfills. AFM’s
personnel and salary levels will increase, given the heavy workload.
The Government approved, during the meeting on Friday, 16 September, a
draft law amending the Law on the establishment, organization and
functioning of the Legislative Council (LC), which proposes
supplementing the Council’s powers in the sense of publishing the
consolidated version of an amended or completed normative act on the
Legislative Council’s website after the entry into force of the
amending act. The draft law thus proposes amending Law 73/1993 on the
establishment, organization and functioning of the Legislative Council,
as well as Law 24/2000 on the legislative technique norms for the
drawing up of normative acts.
Romania, Moldova and Ukraine agreed to sign an inter-governmental
agreement on interconnection and increased cooperation in the energy
field. The energy and foreign affairs ministers from the three
countries met in Odessa and agreed to increase bilateral electricity
exchanges between them, and sign bilateral contracts for the short-,
medium- and long-term, Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu wrote on
his Facebook page. The minister also noted the importance of
cooperation because of the multidimensional crises affecting Ukraine
and the Republic of Moldova, as well as in the perspective of
establishing a long-term dialogue and coordination mechanism.
Government spokesman, Dan Cărbunaru has announced that on Friday, the
Government approved the methodological norms for the implementation of
the "Warm Meal in Schools" program, defining the situations in which
educational establishments benefit from this project and the minimum
mandatory rules for preparing meals for pre-school children and pupils,
based on the National Institute of Public Health’s recommendations. At
the beginning of the government meeting on Friday, Prime Minister
Nicolae Ciucă said he was convinced the Ministry of Education would
take measures to make sure the schools to benefit from this program
were the ones that really needed it.
Employment rate of working-age population (15-64 years) was 63.5% in Q2
of 2022, up by 1.1% against Q1/2022, according to data from the
National Institute of Statistics (INS). Employment rate was higher
among men (72.0%, compared to 54.8% among women) and among people
living in urban areas (69.3%, compared to 56.6% in rural areas), while
young people’s employment rate (15-24 years) was 19.3%. Unemployment
rate in Q2/2022 stood at 5.3%, down by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter.
Job vacancy rate in the European Union stood at 3% in Q2/2022, up from
2.9% in the previous three months, and from 2.2% in the same period of
2021, according to data published by Eurostat on Friday. In April-June
2022, the Member States with the lowest job vacancy rates were
Bulgaria, Spain and Romania (all 0.9%) and Slovakia (1%), while the
Member States with the highest job vacancy rates were the Netherlands
(5.1%), Belgium (5%), the Czech Republic (4.9%) and Austria (4.8%).