Romania's Central Bank

Greece's National Bank (NBG) said on Monday it is considering other options on its Romanian subsidiary Banca Romaneasca after Romania's central bank rejected a deal to sell the unit to Hungary's OTP Bank .

NBG had agreed in July last year to sell 99.28 percent of Banca Romaneasca to OTP Bank Romania, a unit of OTP Bank, as part of an EU-approved restructuring plan.

Romanian lender Banca Transilvania said on Friday it has received regulatory approval from the country's competition watchdog and the central bank to buy Greek Eurobank's Romanian subsidiary Bancpost.

"Banca Transilvania estimates that the closing of the transaction regarding the acquisition of Bancpost will take place during the first half of April 2018," it said in a statement.

Romania's central bank said on Thursday it had rejected Hungary's OTP Bank's acquisition of Banca Romaneasca, despite the competition watchdog clearing the purchase late last year.

OTP signed a deal in July with National Bank of Greece to purchase Banca Romaneasca.

But the sale, which had been expected to close later this year, needed regulatory approval by the central bank.

Romania's economy grew at record rates in 2017 due to an increase in consumption since fiscal relaxation.

But some analysts warn that while fast growth looks like good news, the government is neglecting investment and the country is bound to face difficulties in the future.

Romania's Central Bank chief Mugur Isarescu on Thursday sounded a cautionary note about the country's economy, despite the optimistic growth forecasts coming out of the European Commission among others.

Romania faces the risk of running a high trade deficit in 2017, unless the government postpones investment and cuts taxes, he said.

Members of Romania's parliament across parties agreed on Thursday to cut Value Added Tax (VAT) to 20% from next year, and to 19% from 2017.

VAT in Romania currently stands at 24%.

Aside from the tax cuts, the government led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta also plans to increase considerably the wages in the public sector from 2016.

National Bank of Romania Governor Mugur Isarescu restated on Friday his support for the adopting of euro by Romania.

The balance of the non-government credit extended by lending institutions increased by 7.5 per cent (6.6 per cent in real terms) on March 31, 2015 compared to March 31, 2014 due to the 17.4 per cent rise (16.5 per cent in real terms) in the credit extended to the population's households, whilst the forex component denominated in lei decreased by 10.8 per cent, according to the data released on

Romania's central bank Governor Mugur Isarescu on Monday said there had been no negative reaction on local banks with Greek capital from the situation in Greece.

The key interest rate may be reduced to 2.25% per year in the monetary policy meeting of Romania's Central Bank (BNR) Board on February 4, say the analysts who participated in a survey within the Financial-Banking Analysts' Association of Romania (AAFBR).

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE