Analysts estimate a 5.01% inflation rate for the next 12 months and an
exchange rate of RON 5.0547/EUR 1, according to a survey conducted by
CFA Romania. CFA Romania Association’s Macroeconomic Confidence
Indicator fell 16.4 points compared to the previous month, to 57.2
points (the indicator was up 22.9 points year-on-year). As to the
exchange rate, the average value of anticipations for the six-month
horizon is RON 4.9985/EUR 1, while the average value of the anticipated
exchange rate for the 12-month horizon is RON 5.0547/EUR 1. Moreover,
the lowest estimated value of the EUR/RON exchange rate for the
12-month horizon is 4.9400.
The Ministry of Finance has transmitted that the execution of the
consolidated general budget ended with a RON 44.29 billion deficit
(3.77% of GDP) in the first nine months of 2021, lower than the RON
67.27 billion deficit (6.37% of GDP) recorded in the same period of
2020. Moreover, investment expenditures were RON 3.97 billion higher
during the period January-September 2021 than in the similar interval
of the previous year. Furthermore, exceptional payments generated by
the COVID-19 epidemic stood at RON 10.64 billion lei. The revenues of
the consolidated general budget amounted to RON 270.36 billion in the
first nine months of 2021, up by 18.7% year-on-year.
The negative dynamics of global trade continued in August, according to
the latest World Trade Monitor report, published by the Dutch institute
CPB. Global trade momentum, defined as the dynamics of the trade volume
over a three-month period compared to the previous three months,
accelerated its decline to 0.9%, from 0.7% in the previous month, amid
a 0.7% fall at the level of advanced economies and a 1.5% decrease at
the level of emerging economies.
The net assets of the 233 local and foreign open-end and closed-end
funds on the Romanian market grew by 3.2% in September, to RON 52.9
billion (EUR 10.7 billion), and have increased by 19% since the
beginning of the year, according to the Asset Managers Association. Net
inflows totaled RON 68.4 million (EUR 13.8 million) in September. The
five best performing local open-end funds have recorded net annual
returns between 45.1% and 65.7% in the past 12 months, and maximum
returns over a 36-month time horizon ranged from 64.2% to 69.5%
(compared to September 2018).
Ten-year government bonds had a 4.95% reference rate on the secondary
market on Tuesday, 26 October, down from 4.97% the day before, having
stayed below the 5% level reached in the previous week. The maximum
level of the past month, of 5.12%, was recorded on 8 October, the rate
having slightly decreased subsequently, according to NBR data. A number
of 126 RON-denominated securities, worth RON 5.5 billion, and 4
euro-denominated securities, worth EUR 5 million, were traded on
Monday, 25 October.
Dateio, a fintech established in Prague in 2014, has developed a
marketing platform based on card transaction data that partner banks
offer clients in their mobile banking application. The latest
implementation of the platform has been carried out in cooperation with
UniCredit Bank, under the ShopSmart program, according to the
information transmitted by the company’s representatives.
Real estate developer Impact Developer&Contractor has contracted a
EUR 4 million loan from Libra Bank to refinance its investments. The
borrowed amount will be reimbursed on a quarterly basis, being due in
October 2024. Impact has RON 1.1 billion capitalization and is nearly
60% controlled by Gheorghe Iaciu, while Adrian Andrici holds 15.9% of
the shares. IMP shares have increased by 102.7% since the beginning of
the year, amid RON 48.6 million transactions, which means that
capitalization has more than doubled in this period, according to
Bucharest Stock Exchange data.
Premier Restaurants Romania, the operator of McDonald’s restaurants
chain in Romania, will invest over EUR 2 million by the end of 2021,
for the remodeling and introduction of the Digital Experience of the
Future system in several restaurants in the country. The company has
already invested over EUR 1.2 million this year, in the modernization
and digitalization of three restaurants in Bucharest and two others in
Cluj-Napoca, and three more restaurants will benefit from the new
digital system by the end of the year. The investments are part of the
company’s development strategy to offer clients innovative facilities
and access to the latest technologies.
Medicover is expanding by opening four new high-tech imaging centers in
Bucharest, Iaşi, Constanţa and Craiova. The investment will facilitate
patients’ access to advanced diagnostic technologies, essential for
detecting serious diseases, but also for post-COVID-19 monitoring. The
new Medicover imaging centers will be equipped with latest generation
medical systems produced by GE Healthcare and will cover services such
as computed tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance, angiography and
conventional radiology. All computed tomography systems that Medicover
imaging centers will use are equipped with software applications needed
for lung examinations, in order to meet the new challenges posed by
COVID-19 infections.
The draft law proposed by Save Romania Union (USR), banning civil
servants declared incompatible by the National Integrity Agency (ANI)
from holding management and control positions in the public sector, a
legislative proposal initiated by USR Senator Cosmis Poteraş, was not
adopted during the Chamber of Deputies plenary session on Tuesday, 26
October. Using the "present, but not voting" option, the members of the
National Liberal Party (PNL), the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in
Romania (UDMR) and of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) reached an
agreement and refused to vote on the legislative initiative.
Romania and Bulgaria have the lowest vaccination rates in the European
Union, and the epidemiological situation is getting out of control
again. In the past few weeks, the number of coronavirus infections in
Romania rose abruptly, and the death toll followed suit. Last week,
Romania registered one of the highest death rates globally and applied
for EU help to ease part of the strain on its embattled healthcare
system.
The coordinator of the national anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign,
Valeriu Gheorghiţă stated on Tuesday, 26 October, that over one million
people had got vaccinated with the first dose during the period 20
September – 24 October, pointing out that, if the current trend was
maintained until the end of this year, Romania can reach an over 70%
vaccination rate of the resident population aged over 12. Valeriu
Gheorghiţă also stated that 80% of the over one million people who had
got vaccinated in the past month were aged under 60.
The National Committee for the Coordination of Anti-Covid-19
Vaccination Activities (CNCAV) has announced that 792,000 doses of
vaccine will arrive at "Cantacuzino" National Institute for
Medical-Military Research and Development on Wednesday, 27 October.
According to CNCAV, the transport is ensured by the manufacturing
company, and the vaccine doses will be brought to Bucharest by land.
Moreover, the doses will be stored at the National Storage Center, and
will be distributed to the existing regional centers at national level
in the following period.