Radio România Internațional

Tag: cash

  • November 4, 2023 UPDATE

    November 4, 2023 UPDATE

    CASH Romanian Prime Minister, Social-Democrat Marel Ciolacu, has
    announced a government meeting next week, which is also going to be attended by
    representatives of the SMEs and the main banks for talks on cash payments. The
    issue has sparked off heated debates in the past days after some banks have
    notified clients on their intention to raise the commissions for cash
    withdrawal and deposits. Under the new fiscal-budgetary legislation, cash
    payments between legal and natural persons have been limited to the equivalent
    of one thousand euros per day, with the exception of wages. Cash payment
    between two natural persons has been limited to two thousand euros per day,
    while between legal persons it must not exceed 200 euros per day. These
    thresholds are to be cut in half on January 1, 2025. Liberal leader Nicolae
    Ciuca from the ruling PNL-PSD coalition has announced the decision might be
    talked upon between the coalition members. The most affected are the small
    traders, mainly in the country’s rural areas where people mostly rely on
    cash.






    TALKS Romania’s Foreign Minister, Luminita Odobescu, talked on the
    phone with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen about the situation of the
    Romanian citizens and their family members who requested support for being
    evacuated from the Gaza Strip. On this occasion, the official in Bucharest has
    reiterated the Foreign Ministry’s readiness to offer consular assistance to all
    the Romanians who need to leave Gaza. The Israeli official has given assurances
    the evacuation of the Romanian citizens is a major concern for the authorities
    in Tel Aviv. On Friday, the Foreign Ministry announced that another two people
    with double Israeli-Romanian citizenship are still being held hostage in Gaza.
    The ministry has called for the release of all hostages, including the six
    people with Israeli-Romanian citizenship.






    RATING Moody’s rating agency has reconfirmed Romania’s credit
    rating at Baa3 with stable outlook. The country’s Finance Minister Marcel Bolos
    says this is a new confirmation of the fact that the incumbent government has taken
    the right measures to combat the social-economic effects of the latest crises
    and for ensuring sustainable public finances. The announcement contributes to
    maintaining a favourable economic climate to cutting funding costs and the
    promotion of investment in our country Bolos went on to say. He underlined that
    the reforms and measures aimed at achieving fiscal-budgetary consolidation
    remain the priorities of the Finance Ministry.


    (bill)

  • Economic measures in times of crisis

    Economic measures in times of crisis

    As of Wednesday, in Romania employers may apply for governmental funds to pay their employees in idle time. The applications may be submitted online, to the county employment agencies. The same type of aid is available not only for companies with employees, but also to the self-employed. In order to benefit from these funds, employers must submit to county employment agencies an application, a sworn statement and a list of the employees on idle time.



    The Labour Minister, Violeta Alexandru, promised that all applications will be processed as quickly as possible. Idle time benefits are capped at around 800 euros per month, before tax and healthcare and pension contributions. According to the latest data, over 500,000 employees have already seen their employment contracts temporarily suspended over the coronavirus crisis. Tax analysts warn however that the idle time benefits, accounting for maximum 75% of the gross salary, will be subject to the same tax rates as the regular salaries.



    Meanwhile, the governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isărescu, says that the tensions created by the COVID-19 crisis in the monetary, financial and banking sector have already reached the peak and will subside. Isărescu explained in a news release that after successive days with substantial cash withdrawals, the situation is now stable.



    According to the central bank governor, there were isolated, temporary bottlenecks shortly after the state of emergency was announced. Between March 11 and 20, banks withdrew some 900 million euros in cash from the central bank, in order to cover the demand for cash from their clients. This was double the figure reported during the winter holidays in December 2019.



    Over the past few days, however, the National Bank says, withdrawals fell substantially, and at present banks are able to cover their ATM and payment needs from their own resources. The cash reserves of the National Bank also stayed within prudential limits and increased slightly in the last several days.



    According to the central bank, there are no problems in covering the demand for cash in local currency. The bank recommends nonetheless that individuals and companies try and use non-cash payment instruments as much as possible these days.



    After the National Bank announced its monetary policy decisions, interest rates were cut considerably, and the exchange rate for the national currency stabilized within a 1% range, with a slight upward trend reported lately, the central banks news release also reads.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • UPDATE MAE: Românii să se asigure că au bani lichizi în Grecia

    UPDATE: Autoritățile de la Atena au decis închiderea băncilor elene, cel puţin până la data de 6 iulie 2015, precum și limitarea extragerilor de numerar la 60 Euro/zi pentru clienţii băncilor locale şi numai pe teritoriul elen. Având în vedere desfăşurarea operaţiunilor de actualizare a echipamentelor și programelor informatice ale băncilor și ATM-urilor de pe teritoriul Republicii Elene, se recomandă cetăţenilor români să aibă în vedere şi posibilitatea apariţiei unor întârzieri ale tranzacţiilor bancare în cursul zilei de luni, 29 iunie.

    Ministerul român de externe recomandă românilor care au
    programate dejururi în Grecia, să aibă asupra lor suficienţi bani lichizi
    pentru acoperirea tuturor cheltuielilor. Din cauza crizei fiscale, există
    posibiltatea întreruperii activităţilor bancare în statul elen.




    Românii care călătoresc în Grecia sunt anetţionaţi şi asupra
    duratelor mari de aşteptare provocate de suprasolicitarea serviciilor bancare
    din Grecia. MAE menţionează că Ambasada României la Atena şi Consulatul General
    de la Salonic împreună cu Centrala MAE monitorizează îndeaproape evoluțiile, inclusiv din
    perspectiva unor eventuale repercusiuni asupra serviciilor turistice în
    actualul context economic din Grecia.