The European Directive on minimum statutory wage would push up the gross wages in Romania quite substantially: the minimum level would be hiked by RON 1,000 (EUR 200) to RON 3,500 (EUR 700), according to G4media.ro commenting on an interview given by MEP and former EU Commissioner Corina Cretu (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats). This can not have a negligible impact, and the investors have already warned of the massive negative impact in terms of jobs lost. On the other hand, the same effect (higher wages) is achieved by the workforce mobility and the investors’ complaints about “the lack of [chap] workforce” demonstrate this. Under the Directive, the minimum statutory wage will be calculated on a country-by-country base as 60% of the economy-wide average wage. The benchmark coincides with the poverty line - 60% of the average per capita income. The European minimum wage Directive is close to the final vote in the European Parliament. Some EU member states still oppose the Directive, including Sweden and Denmark; they say that it is not their governments that set the minimum wage, but that it is set through negotiations on collective bargaining agreements. The Directive was already voted in the Labor Committee of the European Parliament, and the vote in the plenary sitting could take place early next year, MEP Cretu explained for G4Media. In short, if applied, the minimum gross wage would increase in Romania. In the field of European funds, Cretu warned those who will take over the relevant ministry that the new Operational Programs must be concluded and approved by the European Commission and the Resilience Plan PNRR must be kicked off urgently - otherwise, Romania will lose huge amounts of money.
The volume of new local currency loans extended by Romanian banks (including refinancing loans) increased by 48.0% y/y to RON29.6bn (some EUR 6bn) in Q1, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania. Most of it was retail lending. The new loans extended to households (retail lending) surged by 83.5% y/y to RON20.8bn, and […]
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that, besides debt recovery specialist APS, it is taking over a portfolio of "around 2,000 sub-performing and non-performing loans" with a nominal value of some EUR 400mn in Romania, sold by Piraeus Bank. The EBRD's participation in the deal is 30%. The EBRD says that the […]
The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) calculated by Eurostat for Romania (105.1) reached the highest value in 12 months in April. This means that the managers and consumers expressed, to a larger extent, more positive views or expectations compared to the long-term average. "Based...
Romania’s gross general government debt reached RON841.3bn (EUR169.3bn) at the end of February after increasing by RON57.8bn (EUR11.6bn) in the first two months of the year, according to data published by the Ministry of Finance. The debt-to-GDP ratio, calculated under EU methodology*, reached 52.4% at the end of February, from 48.8% at the...
The average monthly real yield of the mandatory private funds (Pillar 2) in Romania improved to a positive 1.9% in March, reversing the 0.5% and 0.4% negative real performances in February and January (when the inflation rates were higher), according to our calculations based on data published by the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF). The...
Romania's president Klaus Iohannis will be received on May 7 at the White House by Joe Biden, the Presidential Administration announced. President Iohannis will pay an official visit to the US between May 7 and May 8. During the same visit to the US, the Atlantic Council will honor the Romanian president with the Distinguished […]
