It is possible that the economic growth in Romania will be even lower than 4% in 2022, and a large number of bankruptcies are not excluded, said Ionut Dumitru, chief economist of Raiffeisen Romania. He reasoned that not all producers would be able to transfer to customers the sharp energy price increases, eventually incurring big losses."Given the imminent staggering growth in energy prices, I refuse to believe that producers will remain untouched," he explained, quoted by Wall-street.ro. The industrial prices have indeed soared by 28% YoY as of November (latest data available), while the consumer price inflation - although very high in absolute terms - can not catch up with such advance. As regards the monetary policy, Dumitru argues that the National Bank of Romania (BNR) is well behind its peers and must move fast to close the gap by steeper rate hikes. BNR is expected to operate 50bp rate hikes in each of the coming two monetary board meetings, Raiffeisen Romania's chief economist said.
Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on Friday, January 10. According to the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the US without the need for a visa starting March 31, 2025. "Romania becomes the first country in the […]
Cluj-Napoca, the city in Romania with some of the highest rents and a fast-growing IT industry, is closer to banning smoking in playgrounds and parks after mayor Emil Boc expressed his support for the measure. The mayor cited the prioritization of public health as the reason behind such a ban. He mentioned that he has […]
Romania's Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital will receive a robotic system to prepare cytostatic drugs needed by cancer patients, along with other equipment, after the County Council obtained funds from the European Regional Development Fund. With an estimated value of EUR 1 million, the "Robotic Composition System for Sterile Preparations of Cytostatic Drugs" is among […]
Romania’s government adopted in its January 10 meeting a decision granting an extra day off to public sector employees at the beginning of May. Thus, Friday, May 2, will be an official day off for public sector workers, linking the legal holiday of May 1 (Labor Day) with the weekend (May 3-4). This...
The Ministry of Environment announced that 2024 was the hottest year in the history of Romania's meteorological records. Red alerts for heat waves began in June of 2024, with the longest consecutive periods of persistent and intense heat waves, six consecutive days, between July 13-18 and August 15-20. "The year 2024 is the hottest year...
Supporters of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu gathered outside the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, which houses the Constitutional Court, on January 10, demanding a rerun of the second round of the presidential elections. The protest, dubbed "The Great Judicial Union," was initiated by Georgescu, who called on his supporters to challenge the election annulment, as […]
