George Banciulea

BCR's 2020 net profit of 814.1 million lei (168.3 million euros) was 37.2 percent higher than the 593.3 million lei (125 million euros) reported in 2019, due to the strong increase in lending and a higher operating result, partly from offsetting higher risk costs, the bank said in a release.

The Romanian economy contracted by 3.9% in 2020, and in the last quarter of 2020 the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined 1.5% from the same quarter of 2019, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Tuesday.

The launch of the guarantee-return system (SGR) at national level will greatly contribute to the efficiency of selective collection, the Minister of Environment, Waters and Forests, Tanczos Barna, said on Thursday, after discussions with the General Mayor of the Capital City, on the topic of waste management.

Romania's FOB/CIF trade balance deficit has further widened in 2020 to 18.387 billion euros, by 1.088 billion euros more than in 2019, as imports shrank 6.6 percent and exports 9.9 percent, according to data released on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Last year's FOB exports totaled 62.175 billion euros, and CIF imports stood at 80.562 billion euros.

The new loans extended by Romanian banks to the population and companies, which amounted to 84 billion lei last year, a year marked by the COVID 19 health crisis, are slightly above the level of new loans accessed in 2019 and holds a share of almost one third in the balance of non-government credit, according to the Romanian Association of Banks (ARB).

The estimated gross domestic product for 2019, semi-final data, was 1,058.190 billion lei current prices, on the increase in real terms by 4.1% compared to 2018, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Compared to the provisional version, in the semi-final variant, the nominal gross domestic product estimated for 2019 decreased by 0.15%.

The "Unirea" National Federation of Romanian Pensioners (FNUPR) calls out Labor Minister Raluca Turcan over the gap between the planned pension pegging to inflation (2 - 3 percent) and the rapid surge of food, medicines and utility prices by 10 - 20 percent, which will bring pensioners below the poverty line.

The annual inflation rate remained stable at 2.1% in December last year as food prices rose by 3.24%, services by 2.69%, and non-food goods by 1.01%, according to data published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). "Consumer prices in December 2020, compared to December 2019, increased by 2.1%.

The minimum wage will be indexed on Wednesday, in the Government meeting, by 3.1%, namely 70 lei gross, and the pensions will be increased this year at least by the inflation rate, Minister of Labor Raluca Turcan told private broadcaster Digi 24 Tuesday evening.

The total monthly average income per household stood at 5,302 lei in the third quarter of last year, and the total expenditures reached, on average, 4,444 lei per month/per household, accounting for 83.8% of the total income level, show the data of the National Institute of Statistics (INS), published on Monday.