In 2020, household consumption expenditure in the EU decreased by an unprecedented 8% compared with 2019, the largest annual reduction recorded since the time series started and it is due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission Statistics Office (Eurostat) reported on Monday.Social distancing measures, government restrictions imposed on the movement of people and non-essential economic activities severely affected household consumption expenditure.All the EU Member States recorded a decrease in household consumption expenditure. Data for Romania, Greece, Germany, Belgium, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands and Portugal are provisional, Eurostat said.When comparing 2019 with 2020, the largest decrease was recorded in Malta (around -22%), followed by Croatia, Spain and Greece (all around -16%). On the other hand, the smallest decreases were recorded in Slovakia and Denmark (both around -2%), followed by Lithuania and Poland (both around -3%), Sweden (minus 3.8%), and Romania (minus 4.3%).According to Eurostat, the largest decreases in household consumption expenditure were observed for 'Restaurants and hotels' (-38% compared with 2019), 'Clothing and footwear,' 'Transport' and 'Recreation and culture' (all -17%). On the other hand, the largest increases were recorded for 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' (+3%) and 'Communications' (+2%).In 2020, over a quarter (26%) of household consumption expenditure was devoted to 'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels,' making it the EU's largest household expenditure item, ahead of 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' (15%) and 'Transport' (12%).
A truck belonging to a Moldovan transport company loaded with weapons was detected at the Albita Customs, at the entrance to Romania, on November 20, Europa Libera Romania reported. According to the documents, it was intended for an Israeli beneficiary, but this has not been...
The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) will rule on December 10 on the objections expressed by the opposition party AUR against the revised law that includes higher taxes and better tax collection procedures, passed by the Parliament on November 18 in an amended form, such as to incorporate the issues already spotted by the CCR […]
The Social Democrat (PSD) candidate for the Bucharest mayor seat, Daniel Baluta, mayor of District 4 and president of PSD Bucharest organisation, leads with 26.6% of the general voting intentions expressed in the latest poll conducted by Inscop for Informat.ro. He is closely followed by the Liberal (PNL) candidate Ciprian Ciucu, currently mayor of District […]
Cris-Tim Family Holding (BVB: CFH) shares will start trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on November 26, following one of the most heavily oversubscribed initial public offerings ever conducted on the local market for retail investors, Ziarul Financiar reported. The listing follows a RON...
Banca Transilvania (BVB: TLV) is preparing to launch a new Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bond issue, denominated in euros, with an indicative coupon of 7.625% (semiannual payment), according to Bloomberg information consulted by Economedia.ro. The instrument is a EUR Benchmark Perpetual...
Banca Comercială Română (BCR, part of Erste Bank Group) raised EUR 500 million through its second Eurobond issue, strengthening its access to international capital markets. The issuance follows a local bond sale earlier this month and forms part of the bank’s broader funding strategy. BCR stated that the transaction secured “one of the most competitive […]
