Public debt exceeded the RON 600 billion threshold for the first time
in April. The increase in public debt comes as the government has
borrowed large sums in the past few years to finance the budget
deficit. As a result, public debt stood at RON 602.9 billion at the end
of April, representing 49.2% of GDP. The Ministry of Finance has
recently revised the debt announced for March to 48.4%, from the
previously announced 50.3%, following the higher-than-expected increase
in nominal GDP. The indicator stood at 50.2% of GDP in January and at
50.6% in February.
Turnover from market services mainly provided to enterprises grew by
23.5% as a gross series and by 23% as a working days and
seasonally-adjusted series in the first four months of 2022, compared
to the same period of 2021, according to data published by the National
Institute of Statistics (INS) on Friday. Film making, video and
television program production, program broadcasting and transmission
activities recorded a 0.3% advance.
Wholesale trade turnover (except for trade in motor vehicles and
motorcycles) grew, in nominal terms, by 28.8% as a gross series and by
28% as a working days and seasonally-adjusted series in the first four
months of 2022, compared to the same period of 2021, according to data
published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Friday.
Wholesale trade in food, beverages and tobacco increased by 0.4%.
Libra Internet Bank analyzes and updates in real time the main
evolution scenarios, as well as the best possible directions of action
for each situation, given the current complicated context, aggravated
by the conflict in Ukraine, "unpredictable" being the term that best
fits 2022, according to the bank’s CEO, Emil Bituleanu. In terms of
challenges, Mr. Bituleanu mentions the evolution of the real estate
development sector, which the banking institution is closely monitoring
and in-depth analyzing.
Banks have started increasing interest rates on households’ term
deposits, after, for several months, credit institutions had been
watching as inflation reached its highest levels in the past few years
and, once NBR raised the monetary policy interest rate, they rapidly
increased interest rates on loans first. As a result, the offers of the
seven biggest banks on the local market currently start at 1.5% for
three-month term deposits for individuals and can reach 6% for 24-month
term deposits.
Many retailers have implemented the business model based on technology,
on digitalization, in recent years, and banks, just like supermarkets,
basically invite clients to access the products they want, to obtain
them themselves and to pay/reimburse them themselves, thus reducing the
number of front-office employees, of the traditional "cashiers".
Bankers and retailers started placing bigger focus on the digital
revolution amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cigarettes and heated tobacco products manufacturer Philip Morris will
invest USD 100 million in 2022-2023 to increase its production capacity
for smoke-free products in Romania and to reduce its environmental
impact. Philip Morris’s investment in smoke-free products in Romania
during the interval 2017-2023 will thus reach USD 600 million. There
are approximately 300,000 users of IQOS, the smokeless product
manufactured by Philip Morris, and about 5 million smokers in Romania.
Medisprof Cancer Center, a company founded by doctor Carolina Udrea, is
investing EUR 2 million in the oncology center in Piatra Neamt, but
will also start construction works on the second hospital in
Cluj-Napoca. The new hospital in Cluj will be double the size of the
existing one, and will provide complementary services to the current
ones through surgery (4 robotic modular rooms), nuclear medicine,
imaging and top-level radiotherapy. The investment in equipment will
amount to EUR 10 million, and construction works have been evaluated at
EUR 12 million.
Water producer Calipso, owned by Florica and Daciana Siderache, expects
to record a RON 121 million turnover in 2022, up by 75% against 2021,
as a result of an extensive investment process, according to
information provided by company representatives. Calipso, the producer
of the Miraqua and Codrii Vlăsiei spring water brands, was founded in
1991 and has a factory in Afumați, Ilfov County.
Several parliamentarians from the National Liberal Party have submitted
a draft normative act amending the Law on Physical Education and Sport
by introducing e-sports among the activities considered to be sports
branches. In Romania, the activity of the game development industry
behind E-Sports has been evaluated at a market value of over EUR
220,000,000, and the cumulative value of prizes from E-Sports
competitions and events exceeds RON 2,000,000 this year, according to
initiators’ representatives.
The Presidential Administration has transmitted that President Klaus
Iohannis has promulgated the law approving Government Emergency
Ordinance (OUG) 95/2021 regarding the "Anghel Saligny" National
Investments Program. The law aims to create a legislative framework
allowing administrative-territorial units to promote investment
projects in eligible sectors, so as to ensure access to essential
services for the entire population, increase the quality of living and
avoid the risk of depopulation in underdeveloped communities.
A legislative proposal amending Law 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code has
been submitted to the Romanian Senate. The draft law proposes a tax
exemption on vouchers granted to all employees. The legislative
proposal in question, no. B365/2022, was registered at the Senate on 08
June 2022. It targets food vouchers, nursery vouchers, holiday vouchers
and cultural vouchers, which would be non-taxable (with no limit on
their value), except for gift vouchers which the RON 300 threshold
would continue to apply for.
The EU should grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, bringing
them a step closer to bloc membership, while Georgia still has some
homework to do, the European Commission said on Friday, 17 June, in a
highly-anticipated opinion on the bloc’s future enlargement. Ukraine
applied for EU membership just days after Russia launched its invasion
on 24 February, with Georgia and Moldova following suit over fears of
aggression and influence from Moscow.
Romanians working abroad sent home more than EUR 1.7 billion in the
first four months of 2022, well above the same period of 2021. The
biggest remittances came from Germany and the UK. This is because many
Romanians left Italy and Spain, where they were worse paid. Moreover,
Germany is receiving more and more Romanians, who activate in various
sectors, from constructions and agriculture, to engineering and
healthcare services.
Unemployment rate was 6% in Q1/2022, up by 0.1% against the previous
quarter. Moreover, youth unemployment (age category 15-24) reached its
highest level ever, of 23.2%, according to data published by the
National Institute of Statistics on Friday. By gender, the gap between
the two unemployment rates was 0.9% (6.4% among men compared to 5.5%
among women) and by residential background, the gap was 6.2% (9.6% in
rural areas compared to 3.4% in urban areas). Apart from the 7.743
million employed persons, another 610,700 persons worked in their own
agricultural households to produce agricultural goods intended
exclusively or mainly for their own consumption.
Young people part of the new generation are becoming increasingly
active and have been extensively using the BestJobs recruitment
platform in search of internships, part-time or seasonal jobs to help
them gain experience or at least secure a source of income during the
summer. More than 4,000 new resumes have been filled on the platform by
candidates aged between 18 and 24 in the past month. 43% of the jobs
available on the recruitment platform are for candidates with zero
experience.