Global economy should avoid a recession next year, but the worst energy
crisis since the 1970s will trigger a sharp slowdown, with Europe hit
hardest, the OECD said, adding that fighting inflation should be
policymakers’ top priority. National outlooks vary widely, although
Britain’s economy is set to lag major peers, the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development indicated on Tuesday. It forecast
that world economic growth would slow from 3.1% this year - slightly
more than the OECD foresaw in its September projections - to 2.2% next
year, before accelerating to 2.7% in 2024.
Global debt decreased by USD 6.45 trillion in Q3/2022, to USD 290.6
trillion, amid the rapid rise in financing costs. This is the second
consecutive quarterly decline after 14 consecutive increases from
Q4/2018 to Q1/2022. Emerging markets contributed USD 2.45 trillion and
advanced economies contributed USD 4 trillion to the USD 6.45 trillion
downturn due to massive declines recorded in Japan, France, Great
Britain and Canada. The biggest declines in emerging economies were
reported in China, Russia and South Korea.
According to a local study conducted by EY, Romania has all the
necessary tools allowing it to act, at the moment and in the current
economic context, as the main facilitator of supply chains between
Western and Eastern Europe. 74% of participants in this study believe
that Romania can become a leading supplier. Only 14% of them believe
that Romania does not have the strength to gain this status, and 12%
said they did not know what to say about this aspect. Most of the
respondents who believe that Romania will play a key role in securing
transition between Eastern and Western Europe activate in the IT &
software sector- 73%, in the trade sector – 67% and in the automotive
industry - 67%.
More than 50% of the total number of active enterprises, namely 50.1%,
had market services as their main activity and this sector also had the
highest average number of employees in 2021, according to the National
Institute of Statistics (INS). The average number of employees grew by
1.2% in 2021, compared to 2020. Businesses operating on the market
services sector had the largest share in terms of average number of
employees (36.8%), followed by those in industry (30.8%). According to
INS data, the average size of a business in industry was of about 21
employees, while in trade, it was of about 5 employees.
On Wednesday, Uniqa Group, the insurer that exited the market of
mandatory civil liability car insurance (RCA) policies last year,
announced nearly EUR 83 million revenues and a net profit of EUR 5.5
million for the first nine months of 2022, more than in the same period
of last year. The two companies part of the group, namely Uniqa
Asigurări and Uniqa Asigurări de Viață, recorded almost EUR 83 million
total gross written premiums in the first nine months of 2022,
according to IFRS, up by 6% year-on-year.
Raiffeisen Bank has launched the first Visa Platinum Business card for
corporate clients. The product targets business people who travel a
lot, conduct business abroad and have partnerships with external
suppliers. In addition to the usual operations - cash withdrawals in
Romania and abroad, operations at ATMs/MFMs/POSs, online payments,
automatic conversion into the currency of the country where the card is
used, free payment at merchants, etc. - the card offers access to
LoungeKey in airports in Romania and around the world, access to the
Air Refund platform (compensation of up to EUR 600 if the flight was
cancelled or denied boarding), the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection
program, offers for shopping, restaurants, entertainment, art and
travel, as well as travel insurance.
Banks’ cumulative net income from their core business, i.e. net
interest income (obtained revenues minus interest expenses) and net fee
and commission income, exceeded RON 18 billion at the end of the first
nine months of 2022, while the operating profit at the level of the
banking system was RON 10 billion, the difference being quite large.
The data transmitted by NBR indicates that the level of net interest
income in the first nine months of 2022 stood at RON 14.4 billion,
while net fee and commission income reached RON 3.8 billion, the
combined level being 20% higher than the net income recorded in the
first nine months of 2021.
Banca Transilvania, a financier of the medical sector, supports over
60,000 physicians and medical businesses. BT has contributed
considerably to the development of the Romanian private healthcare
system especially in the past 15 years, with the establishment of the
Division for physicians (DPM). Through DPM, the bank supports private
initiatives in the medical field. Clients are individuals and legal
entities - hospitals, clinics, individual medical practices, limited
liability companies (SRL), authorized natural entities (PFA), dental
laboratories, as well as medical equipment suppliers.
Real estate developer Tower Invest has started construction works on a
district of houses on the outskirts of Sibiu, between Şura Mică and
Ocna Sibiului localities, an investment estimated at EUR 12 million,
Paul Achim, co-founder of Tower Invest, explained during the ZF Invest
in Romania! program, produced in partnership with CEC Bank. He is
entrepreneur Remus Ivanciuc’s partner in Tower Invest.
On Tuesday, 22 November, Japanese company Mazda unveiled a USD 10.6
billion spending plan to electrify its vehicles and said it was also
considering investing in battery production, Reuters reports. The
company also raised its sales target for electric vehicles (EVs) to 40%
of total global sales by 2030, as automotive manufacturers around the
world spend billions of dollars to ramp up batteries and electric
vehicles production in the face of tougher environmental regulations.
The producer of Zarea, Dorato and Amarol alcoholic beverages, part of
the German group Schloss Wachenheim, will invest EUR 20 million for the
construction of a new plant, in Mizil. The investment has been signed
for Ploiești Industrial Park (PIP). Zarea, which has been present on
the local market since 1912, has been part of the German group Schloss
Wachenheim, one of the largest sparkling wine producers, since 2004.
Liberal (PNL) deputy Adrian Cozma has initiated a draft law banning
"any form of advertising" for casinos and gambling, according to a
document published on the Chamber of Deputies’ website. The draft law
also stipulates that the fine for breaking the law should be between
RON 10,000 and RON 50,000. The gambling advertising market has seen
steady growth in recent years.
During the plenary session on Wednesday, 23 November, the majority of
MPs (257 votes) voted in favor of the draft law regarding the
protection of public authorities and institutions’ information systems,
amid the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The law aims to
prevent and counter cyber threats by state and non-state actors to
communications and information technology infrastructures critical to
national security, an amendment indicates.
The minimum number of employees required to form a trade union will be
reduced from 15 to 10, and representativeness thresholds for trade
unions and employers’ associations will be lowered, according to a new
Social Dialog Law, which was adopted by Parliament through a final vote
in the Chamber of Deputies. The new law, which has yet to be
promulgated by the head of state, establishes new rules regarding the
negotiation of collective labor agreements, representation in
negotiations, but also new forms of triggering a labor dispute, such as
strikes against the government’s social and economic policy or
solidarity strikes with employees from other companies.
EU countries, including Germany, have spent billions to help citizens
get through the energy crisis, though measures have not been targeted
towards society’s most vulnerable, the European Commission said on
Tuesday (22 November). Aid packages worth billions were launched by EU
governments to fend off the energy crisis, despite criticism related to
their scale. Germany, for one, went as far as to announce a relief
package worth up to EUR 200 billion. However, two-thirds of government
measures aimed at helping households and businesses did not target
society’s most vulnerable, a report on the budgetary situation of the
eurozone the Commission presented in Strasbourg on Tuesday (22
November) reads.
The social and economic challenges of 2022 have intensified the trend
of choice-based fringe benefits, and, starting from 2023, benefit
packages may change according to the new legislation, BestJobs.ro
specialists have indicated. According to them, the labor market has
been on candidates’ side in 2022, with most sectors facing skilled
staff shortages. Moreover, recruitment efforts have also been hampered
by the social-economic context, and employers’ budgets to attract and
retain staff has had to be maximized.
A study conducted by Cult Market Research for Petrom Foundation on
education in nurseries and kindergartens indicates that Romania is
below the European average both in terms of children’s participation in
early education and of percentage of GDP allocated to education. A 5.5%
decrease in children’s participation in early education was recorded in
Romania between 2010 and 2020, while in the EU, there was a slight
increase of 1%.
The Social Monitor, a project of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania, has
updated an infographic on the share of higher education graduates in
Romania, according to a press release. The cited source indicates that
the share of tertiary education graduates in the total population aged
15-64 years in Romania was 16.4% in 2021, slightly above half of the
European Union average - 29.5%. This figure is nearly 10% lower than
that of Bulgaria (25.9%).