Radio România Internațional

Tag: FDI

  • Foreign investors betting on Romania

    Foreign investors betting on Romania

    67% of investors in Romania anticipate an increase in the attractiveness of the country as an investment destination in the next 3 years, according to a study by the financial consulting and auditing company Ernst & Young. According to the document, between 2022 and 2023, the number of newly created jobs in Romania decreased by 8%, from 6,460 to 5,935.

    By this indicator and in the general context of Central and Eastern Europe, in 2023 Hungary recorded better performances than Romania, but our country surpassed Greece and Bulgaria in terms of the number of foreign direct investment projects. At the same time, Romania ranks 5th in the ranking of the average number of jobs created per project, outranking stronger states, such as Poland.

    The study also shows that 46% of the CEOs interviewed believe that last year Romania remained a robust and resilient market for investments and mentioned that they plan to consolidate or expand their operations here in the near future. Access to non-refundable financing is considered a decisive factor by 72% of investors. Sectors of interest to them include software and IT services, transport and logistics and electronic products, which dominate in attracting foreign direct investment. The integration of emerging technologies and access to a well-trained workforce are essential and strengthen Romania’s position as an attractive destination for sustainable investments with significant long-term impact, the study states.

    Bucharest continues to dominate as the main destination for foreign direct investment, with a substantial share of 40%. Iasi, in the northeast, and Timisoara, in the west, attracted three investment projects each, and Cluj-Napoca, in the northwest, and Braşov, in the center, two each. However, the investment model suggests a shift from the traditional focus on large economic centers towards a wider dispersion of projects in smaller cities.

    The main investors remained unchanged. Germany maintained its leading position, with 16 projects, the same as in 2022, followed by Great Britain and the United States of America, each with 6. According to the research, investors believe that Romania distinguishes itself by its advantageous fiscal system, by the adoption of emerging technologies and the availability of skilled labor.

    The research was carried out online, between February and March 2024, on a representative sample consisting of 100 decision-makers at the level of executive management and the board of directors. Half of the respondents are located in Romania, 40% in other European countries, 6% in the USA, and the rest in Japan, China, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. (MI)

  • August 13, 2020 UPDATE

    August 13, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19. The Strategic Communication Group in Bucharest announced on Thursday another 1,454 cases of infection with the new coronavirus. 66,631 cases have been confirmed in Romania since the beginning of the pandemic more than five months ago. Some 31,547 patients have been declared cured and discharged from hospital, whereas 478 patients are still in intensive care units. The death toll stands at 2,860. Romanias Health Minister Nelu Tataru has said that the current situation requires an extension of the state of alert. The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has again made an appeal to responsibility, asking people to wear masks and observe social distancing. He has stated that local elections are possible on September 27th, as established by Parliament, provided all prevention measures are observed. According to him, Romania has already registered for 10 million doses of vaccine when this is ready and certified at the EU level.



    Risk areas. Germany has added Bucharest and another 10 Romanian counties to its list of high risk areas during the Covid-19 pandemic. The new areas in Romania are the counties of Bacau, Braila, Brasov, Dambovita, Galati, Gorj, Ilfov, Prahova, Vaslui and Vrancea. According to the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest 7 counties were already part of the aforementioned list, which now includes 17 Romanian counties as well as the capital city. Under the new regulations, all people coming to Germany from one of the aforementioned regions in Romania, irrespective of their citizenship, must show a negative Covid-19 test taken 48 hours before their arrival, which has to be translated in German or English or take a free test 72 hours upon their arrival. Those who do not comply with the rules could be subject to fines up to 25 thousand Euros. If the test is done in Germany, subjects are requested to go into self isolation until the result is known. Travelers transiting Germany do not have to comply with the aforementioned rules.



    Budget. Health, transport and education will receive extra money at the next budget adjustment, the Romanian Minister of Finance, Florin Cîțu announced in a press conference on Thursday. He said that for health-care, a priority area this year, the amounts allocated increased by about 45%. Câţu also announced that the budget deficit would increase from 6.7% to 8.6%. He also said the government will increase the level of investments, and pensions. This will be the second budget adjustment in 2020.



    Poll. Almost one quarter of the Romanian employees say they need to take steps towards a new career as the companies they are presently working for have been seriously affected by the current economic situation. A poll conducted by an online recruitment platform shows that more than 20% of those interviewed are ready to start from scratch in their new careers. Most of the Romanian employees, (70%) are looking for a secure job from the context of the present Covid pandemic. A quarter of the interviewees have completely ruled out jobs in the Horeca industry while 22% believes the best jobs are those in companies or fields tightly connected to the online environment. The poll was carried out between July 1st and the 10th on almost 13 hundred people.



    FDI. Foreign direct investments in Romania decreased in the first six months of this year, to 352 million euros, from 2.7 billion euros in the similar period of 2019 – the National Bank announced on Thursday. On June 30, Italy had the largest number – 49,000 – of companies established in Romania, but the Netherlands occupies the first position in terms of total investment value, with 12.8 billion euros. There are currently about 230,000 foreign companies in Romania, which have invested almost 64 billion euros.



    Diplomacy. The head of the Romanian diplomacy, Bogdan Aurescu, had a telephone conversation, on Thursday, with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavuşoglu, at the request of the Turkish side. The two ministers discussed the development of bilateral relations, with a focus on common topics of interest, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two officials also examined the recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, a topic that will be on the agenda of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on Friday, in which the Romanian Minister will also participate.. With regard to this subject, Bogdan Aurescu underlined Bucharests willingness to support, including from within the EU, the de-escalation of the situation, given both Romanias ability to understand the particularities and interests of the region and its expertise in maritime delimitation and in resolving this type of dispute by applying international law and using its specific instruments. Turkey and Greece, which are NATO allies, are embroiled in a dispute over the exploration of oil fields in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece claims that Turkeys exploration in the area is illegal, but Ankara claims that it is done in its exclusive economic area.



    Agreement. Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed, under the auspices of the United States, a “historic peace agreement” and will establish diplomatic relations, US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter on Thursday. The deal is part of a broader agreement under which the Israeli authorities will end the annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is a “historic day,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded. The agreement was also confirmed by the Emirati authorities. The UAE will thus be the third Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.



    Anonimul. The Independent International Film Festival Anonimul is underway in Sfantu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta. The multi-award winning Colectiv was screened on Thursday. This documentary, produced and directed by Alexander Nanau, depicts events taking place in the first year after a devastating blaze that killed 64 in a night-club in Bucharest five years ago. The plot chiefly follows the relationship between the authorities and journalists in their attempt to find out the truth about the event. The 17th edition of the Anonimul festival is being held outdoors, with a maximum of 400 participants in every screening, in compliance with the measures in place, due to the coronavirus pandemic.



    Tennis. Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Thursday qualified for the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Prague, a competition with over 200 thousand dollars in prize money. She defeated Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Next she will take on Magdalena French of Poland. Ana Bogdan of Romania has already qualified for the quarters after the withdrawal of her opponent, Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, and will be up against Kristyna Pliscova of the Czech Republic. In the doubles contest, Monica Niculescu and Raluca Olaru have defeated Lidia Morozova of Belarus and Yana Sizikova of Russia and have qualified for the semifinals.


  • December 14, 2017 UPDATE

    December 14, 2017 UPDATE

    KING MICHAEL I – Three days of national mourning have been declared
    in Romania to honor the memory of its last sovereign, King Michael I. King
    Michael’s coffin will be lying in state
    in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace in Bucharest until Saturday, when the
    funeral is scheduled. The body of King Michael was brought to Romania on
    Wednesday, and the coffin was taken for a few hours to the Royal Peles Castle
    in Sinaia mountain resort, where Romanian and Moldovan officials paid their
    last respects to the former King. Many people lined the route of the funeral
    procession between the airport and the mountain resort of Sinaia to bid
    farewell to the last King of Romania who ruled between 1940 and 1947. King
    Michael died on December 5 in Switzerland at the age of 96. He will be laid to
    rest at the royal necropolis in Curtea de Arges (in the south). The funerals
    will be attended by personalities from all over the world. According to the
    site romaniaregala.ro, attending the funerals, besides the Royal Family of
    Romania, will be representatives of the Royal Families of Great Britain,
    Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Jordan, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Bahrain, Bulgaria,
    Greece, Serbia, Albania, France, Prussia and Portugal. Also attending the
    funerals will be representatives of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria
    and Germany, the Grand Duchy of Baden and the Princely House de Ligne.


















    BREXIT – The
    developments in the Brexit process and the issues caused by migration are the main
    topics on the agenda of the winter European Council which started on Thursday
    in Brussels. Romania is represented by President Klaus Iohannis. The EU leaders
    will look at the progress made in the negotiations with London in three
    specific fields, namely citizens’ rights, dialogue with Ireland and Great
    Britain’s financial commitments to the EU budget. The participants will also
    adopt the guidelines that will facilitate the passing to the 2nd stage of
    Brexit negotiations, in the context in which the EU chief negotiator Michel
    Barnier confirmed that sufficient progress was reported in the 1st stage. On
    the sidelines of the European Council, President Iohannis will participate in
    the Euro+ Summit, which will be attended also by EU countries that are not in
    the Euro zone. As regards security and defense, the summit will discuss the
    instrument of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). President Iohannis will
    reiterate Bucharest’s commitment to help render PESCO operational and will show
    that the implementation of this instrument should lead to a more efficient
    development of military capabilities and to an increased cohesion among EU
    states. President Iohannis will also advocate the deepening and extension of
    EU-NATO cooperation, the presidential administration reports.


















    JUSTICE – The Romanian Chamber of Deputies has passed the
    amendments modifying the justice laws that refer to the organization of the
    judiciary and the functioning of the Superior Council of Magistracy. The bill
    on the organization of the judiciary provides, among other things, for the
    setting up of a unit for investigating prosecutors and judges and for the
    possibility of solutions adopted by prosecutors being rejected by their
    superiors, if the latter consider them illegal or ungrounded. The second bill
    that was passed, related to the functioning of the Superior Council of
    Magistracy, states that the Judicial Inspection, which will remain a part of
    the institution, is the only body allowed to take disciplinary actions against
    a magistrate, eliminating from this procedure the justice minister and the
    president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The two bills will be
    sent to the Senate, which is currently analyzing, in emergency procedure, the
    bill on the status of magistrates.






    BUDGET – The
    joint budget and finance committees of the Romanian Parliament on Thursday
    continued debates on the budgets to be allotted in 2018 to the main public
    institutions. The committees endorsed the budgets earmarked for justice, defense, internal affairs and
    agriculture. The majority coalition wants to finalize debates and
    the joint committees’ report by Saturday, so as to be able to debate the draft
    budget law during Monday’s plenary session. The final vote on the 2018 budget
    and social security bill is scheduled for December 21. The budget was built on
    an estimated 5.5% economic growth rate,
    and additional revenues are to be distributed to healthcare, education and
    investment. The government has also allotted resources for the rise in the
    minimum salary and pensions. The opposition has contested the budget, claiming
    that revenues are overestimated.






    FDI – Foreign Direct
    Investments in Romania went up by 17% in the first ten months of 2017, as
    compared to the same period in 2016, reaching 4.09 billion Euro, according to
    data made public on Thursday by the National Bank of Romania. Between January -
    October 2017, the current account of the balance of payments registered a
    deficit of 5.3 billion Euros, 87% more than in the same period in 2016, the
    Central Bank has also announced. Romania’s external debt grew by 1.3 billion
    Euros in the first ten months of this year.




    EUSDR – Romania will hold the
    presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) between November
    2018- November 2019, the Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor
    Negrescu announced on Thursday. He said that the term will coincide with the
    Romanian presidency of the EU Council as of January 2019. EUSDR is one of the
    four EU macro-strategies, co-initiated by Romania and Austria and launched in
    2011. It was developed in order for the Danube Region countries and
    stakeholders to address common challenges together. The participating countries
    are Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czcek Republic, Croatia, Germany, Slovakia,
    Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia-Hertegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of
    Moldova and Ukraine.




    PATRIOT
    – Romania has already paid for the first Patriot missile system and next week
    will make another payment, this time for armored vehicles. The announcement
    was made on Thursday by the Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor in the
    Senate’s budget-finance committee. Romania wants to purchase six Patriot
    systems, worth a total of 3.9 billion dollars, VAT not included. The first
    system costs 756 million dollars. The Patriot air and missile defense systems
    will become part of the Romanian Army’s equipment in the second half of 2019,
    and the first one will be rendered operational in mid 2020.






    NATO – Canadian pilots at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase
    in the southeast of Romania on Thursday participated alongside Romanian pilots
    in an Air Policing drill, which is part of the NATO Plan to strengthen the
    eastern flank of the Alliance. MiG-21 LanceR and CF-18 Hornet planes carrying
    missiles are prepared to intercept potential unidentified aircraft nearing
    Romania’s airspace. The drill is meant for the joint training of
    military, with a view to meeting NATO’s specific inter-operability requirements
    and boosting the level of cooperation with the allies.



  • August 14, 2016 UPDATE

    August 14, 2016 UPDATE

    ROYAL FUNERAL Queen Anne, the
    consort of Romania’s last sovereign Michael I, was buried on Saturday in Curtea
    de Arges, southern Romania, the necropolis of Romanian Royalty. A burial
    service was celebrated in the Orthodox rite, the faith of the Romanian Royal
    House and of most Romanians. Among those attending the funeral were Romanian
    high officials as well as members of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria
    and Germany, of the Royal Houses of the Netherlands and Belgium, of Luxembourg,
    Baden, Württemberg and Bourbon-Parma. Aged 94, and himself severely ill, King
    Michael could not attend the funeral of his wife, whom he visited every day in
    the Swiss hospital where she died on August 1.




    FDI Foreign
    direct investments in Romania reached 2 billion Euros at the end of the first
    semester, up by 22.7% as compared to the same period last year, the National
    Bank has recently announced. On the other hand, the number of foreign capital
    companies newly established in the first six months of 2016 dropped by 12%. According
    to data provided by the National Statistics Institute, there are only 2,687
    such companies now.








    NAVY DAY
    Sunday was open gates day in the Danube ports of Braila and Tulcea, on the
    eve of Romanian Navy’s Day, which for
    115 years has been celebrated on August 15th. August 15th is also
    the day when Christian believers celebrate the Assumption of Virgin Mary.
    Several events have been organized to mark the day, such as interactive
    workshops, a technique and armament exhibition, brass brand shows and open air
    concerts, contests and tours of navy ships. Military and religions
    ceremonies were held in garrisons, in memory of the navy heroes who died in
    battle.






    ANONIMUL The Land of the
    Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De Pue won the big trophy of the 13th ‘Anonimul’
    International Independent Film Festival. The event, which ended on Saturday
    night, was held in Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta for a week. The Land of
    the Enlightened, a Belgium-Ireland-Netherlands-Germany- Afghanistan co-production
    tells the story of a group of Afghan children from the Kuchi tribe, who dig for
    old Soviet mines and sell the explosive materials to other children. The
    audience’s award for best Romanian short reel went to One Night in Tokoriki
    by Roxana Stroe. The special guest of the 2016 edition was director Park
    Chan-wook, who got the ‘Anonimul’ Trophy for his contribution to enriching
    world cinematography.






    SUMMER UNIVERSITY The 14th
    Summer University in Izvorul Muresului, Harghita County, is taking place over August
    15th – 21st. The theme of this year’s edition is The
    Romanian State and the Romanians on the Borders of the EU and NATO. There are
    over 100 participants, including representatives of the academic environment,
    of the main political parties in Romania, of various Romanian community
    associations and foundations.






    ATTACK A woman who was in
    a serious condition, following Saturday’s attack on a passenger train in
    north-eastern Switzerland, has died. The attacker has died too, because of the
    many injuries he sustained. Another three people are in a critical
    condition. A 27 year old Swiss citizen
    set a train car on fire and attacked passengers with a knife, near the Salez
    station in Saint-Gall. The police have stated that there are no indications
    that the attack was terrorist or politically motivated. In the past few months,
    Europe has been faced with several attacks, many of which claimed by the
    Islamic State terrorist organization.






    TENNIS Between the 15th
    and the 21st of August,
    Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranked 3rd in the WTA
    classification, will play at the Cincinnati tournament in the US, with 2.8
    million dollars in prize money. She goes straight into the second round.
    Another Romanian player, Irina Begu, number 24 in the WTA rankings, will also
    take part in the tournament, but she will start in the first round. In 2015,
    Simona Halep played the final in Cincinnati, but she was defeated by Serena
    Williams. This tournament is the last before the famous US Open, which is the
    last grand slam competition of the year.

  • August 14, 2016

    August 14, 2016

    ROYAL FUNERAL Queen Anne, the
    consort of Romania’s last sovereign Michael I, was buried on Saturday in Curtea
    de Arges, southern Romania, the necropolis of Romanian Royalty. A burial
    service was celebrated in the Orthodox rite, the faith of the Romanian Royal
    House and of most Romanians. Among those attending the funeral were Romanian
    high officials as well as members of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria
    and Germany, of the Royal Houses of the Netherlands and Belgium, of Luxembourg,
    Baden, Württemberg and Bourbon-Parma. Aged 94, and himself severely ill, King
    Michael could not attend the funeral of his wife, whom he visited every day in
    the Swiss hospital where she died on August 1.




    FDI Foreign
    direct investments in Romania reached 2 billion Euros at the end of the first
    semester, up by 22.7% as compared to the same period last year, the National
    Bank has recently announced. On the other hand, the number of foreign capital
    companies newly established in the first six months of 2016 dropped by 12%.
    According to data provided by the National Statistics Institute, there are only
    2,687 such companies now.








    NAVY DAY Today
    is open gates day in the Danube ports of Braila and Tulcea, on the eve of Romanian Navy’s Day, which for 115 years has
    been celebrated on August 15th. August 15th is also the day when
    Christian believers celebrate the Assumption of Virgin Mary. Several events
    have been organized to mark the day, such as interactive workshops, a technique
    and armament exhibition, brass brand shows and open air concerts, contests and
    tours of navy ships. Also today, military and religions ceremonies are held in
    garrisons, in memory of the navy heroes who died in battle.






    ANONIMUL The Land of the
    Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De Pue won the big trophy of the 13th ‘Anonimul’
    International Independent Film Festival. The event, which ended on Saturday
    night, was held in Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta for a week. The Land of
    the Enlightened, a Belgium-Ireland-Netherlands-Germany- Afghanistan
    co-production tells the story of a group of Afghan children from the Kuchi
    tribe, who dig for old Soviet mines and sell the explosive materials to other
    children. The audience’s award for best Romanian short reel went to One Night
    in Tokoriki by Roxana Stroe. The special guest of the 2016 edition was
    director Park Chan-wook, who got the ‘Anonimul’ Trophy for his contribution to
    enriching world cinematography.






    SUMMER UNIVERSITY The 14th
    Summer University in Izvorul Muresului, Harghita County, is taking place over
    August 15th – 21st. The theme of this year’s edition is
    The Romanian State and the Romanians on the Borders of the EU and NATO. There
    are over 100 participants, including representatives of the academic environment,
    of the main political parties in Romania, of various Romanian community
    associations and foundations.






    ATTACK The
    Swiss police have announced today that there is no evidence that the attack
    that occurred yesterday on a passenger train was terrorist or politically
    motivated. A Swiss citizen aged 27 set on fire a train car and attacked with a
    knife several passengers near the station of Salez, in Saint-Gall. According to
    the police, 6 people were wounded, including a 6-year old. The attack occurred
    against the extremely tense situation in Europe, which has been faced with a
    string of attacks in the past months, many of them claimed by the Islamic State
    terrorist organization.






    RIO The Olympic Games continue in Rio. Romanian Elena Daniela Cirlan and
    Paula Todoran will compete in the marathon event and Bianca Razor in the
    women’s 400m. In weight lifting, Andreea
    Aaanei is competing in the women’s over 75 kg. Romania’s national handball team
    is today taking on European champion Norway, and needs to win in order to
    qualify for the quarter finals. Until now they have lost to Angola and won the
    matches against Montenegro and Spain. So far, Romania has won 4 medals at this
    year’s edition of the Olympic Games. The Romanian women’s fencing team won the
    golden medal, tennis players Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea got silver in the
    men’s doubles. Also, weightlifter Gabriel Sincraian and the women’s coxed eight
    got bronze medals.

  • The Romanian Economy appeals to Foreign Investors

    The Romanian Economy appeals to Foreign Investors

    Romanias external debt has dropped by nearly 4 billion euros in the first half of the year. According to centralized data released by the National Bank of Romania, our countrys debt level in early July reached 90 billion euros, of which public debt accounted for 30 billion euros. According to National Bank officials, Romanians working abroad have sent significantly higher amounts of cash back home during the first half of the year. Additionally, foreign direct investment is showing signs of improvement. In the first quarter of 2015, FDI went up by 450 million euros as compared to the same period of last year. Economic analyst Daniel Apostol told us more:



    “Since 2008 onwards, foreign capital injected in Romania was on a downward spiral. In March 2015 however, we reported a first spike of over 400 million euros. Later in June, we had another spike close to the 400 million mark. Overall, over the course of the last six months, we have investment worth 1.66 billion euros, a record high in recent years. At the same time, this figure is not exceedingly spectacular, because we had years when the level of foreign investment would exceed 3 or even 4 billion euros. It is a positive sign however that we have an increase in FDI by capital injections, reinvested profit and to a lesser extent what we know to be ‘intra-group loans.



    Meanwhile, the good economic growth rate, low inflation rate, stable exchange rate against the euro as well as the low level of public debt might turn Romanian economy into a target destination for investors seeking economies that are less risky than those of China or Greece in order to do business. CNBC analysts say business people should look to Central and East-European states for a sanctuary from Chinese market interventions and volatility and Greek debt wrangling. This region has also gained from its close ties to Germany, Europes largest economy, Bob Parker, a senior adviser in investment with Credit Suisse believes. Parker also says that countries like Romania and Bulgaria continue to export heavily to Germany.



    CNBC specialists have also referred to Romanian economic growth, which marks a record for this region. Charles Robertson, chief economist at the investment bank Renaissance Capital, also told CNBC that the Bucharest Stock Exchange went up by 9% this year, making it the best-performing frontier market so far.

  • Economic statistics

    Economic statistics

    The European Statistics Office on Wednesday made public new data on the industrial output in the EU and Eurozone. While in the Eurozone the industrial output figures have stayed largely constant, for the European Union, as a whole, a slight increase has been reported, of 0.7% in June 2014, as compared to last year.



    Hungary and Romania have seen the most substantial advance of the EU member states, with rates of 11.3% and 9.9% respectively. Next comes Slovakia, with a 7.5% increase in industry. The lowest rates were reported in Greece, Malta and Latvia, with falling rates of 6.9%, 3.8% and 2% respectively. In June 2014 compared to May, the industrial output dropped by 0.3% in the Eurozone and by 0.1% in the EU. Romania reported a 0.7% decline in its industrial output in June this year compared to the previous month, when it had seen a 2.7% increase.



    While the news about industrial performances is good, not the same is true as far as direct foreign investments are concerned. In Romania, they totaled nearly 1.2 billion Euros in the first half of this year, which means 10.3% less than in the corresponding period of last year. The figures have been made public by the National Bank of Romania. Financial experts are rather pessimistic as regards a possible recovery of direct foreign investments, and blame the investors’ lack of interest on the domestic political tensions, deepened by the upcoming presidential election, on Europe’s frail economy and on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.



    On the other hand, analysts still have serious reserves regarding the likelihood of the Romanian economy to improve so much as to enable the Government to reduce social insurance contributions by 5%, as stipulated by a recent law. Everybody agrees that, while the measure is good, in principle, in that it reduces the tax burden on labour, its enforcement as of October 1st is rather ill-timed, because it may generate budget deficits that can only be offset through fresh taxes.

  • Economic statistics

    Economic statistics

    The European Statistics Office on Wednesday made public new data on the industrial output in the EU and Eurozone. While in the Eurozone the industrial output figures have stayed largely constant, for the European Union, as a whole, a slight increase has been reported, of 0.7% in June 2014, as compared to last year.



    Hungary and Romania have seen the most substantial advance of the EU member states, with rates of 11.3% and 9.9% respectively. Next comes Slovakia, with a 7.5% increase in industry. The lowest rates were reported in Greece, Malta and Latvia, with falling rates of 6.9%, 3.8% and 2% respectively. In June 2014 compared to May, the industrial output dropped by 0.3% in the Eurozone and by 0.1% in the EU. Romania reported a 0.7% decline in its industrial output in June this year compared to the previous month, when it had seen a 2.7% increase.



    While the news about industrial performances is good, not the same is true as far as direct foreign investments are concerned. In Romania, they totaled nearly 1.2 billion Euros in the first half of this year, which means 10.3% less than in the corresponding period of last year. The figures have been made public by the National Bank of Romania. Financial experts are rather pessimistic as regards a possible recovery of direct foreign investments, and blame the investors’ lack of interest on the domestic political tensions, deepened by the upcoming presidential election, on Europe’s frail economy and on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.



    On the other hand, analysts still have serious reserves regarding the likelihood of the Romanian economy to improve so much as to enable the Government to reduce social insurance contributions by 5%, as stipulated by a recent law. Everybody agrees that, while the measure is good, in principle, in that it reduces the tax burden on labour, its enforcement as of October 1st is rather ill-timed, because it may generate budget deficits that can only be offset through fresh taxes.