George Banciulea

The speed and path of the economic recovery are uncertain, conditional on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictive measures, as well as on the economy's response to fiscal and monetary stimuli, according to the minutes of a monetary policy meeting of the board of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) of August 5, 2020.

Romania's economy shrank by 12.3 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter, according to data released on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics. Compared to Q2 2019, the Gross Domestic Product fell 10.5 percent both in gross and seasonally adjusted terms.

A new ferry crossing point at the border between Romania and Ukraine has become operational, Romania's National Road Infrastructure Management Company (CNAIR) has announced, adding that the first to cross the new point on Wednesday by ferry were international freight trucks from Isaccea.

As of June 15, banks had granted loans to the amount of 4 billion lei under the IMM Invest programme, and this week the one billion euro equivalent mark will be passed, Cristian Paun, chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises SA - IFN (FNGCIMM SA - IFN), said on Wednesday.

A committee made up of governmental officials, representatives of retailers and large commercial centers will draft a legislative initiative to regulate the existing situation between the owners and tenants of malls, generated by the measures taken by the authorities to limit the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the Economy, Energy and Environment Ministry (MEEMA) informs.

The legislative initiative that forbids for 2 years the listing of state companies restricts the state's capacity to optimally utilize capital markets to finance costs and investments, shows a release of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

The Association of Romania's Privately Managed Pensions (APAPR) has recently asked for the Eurobonds issued by Romania to be included in the European Central Bank's (ECB) procurement programme for euro area countries.

The suspension bridge across the Danube is the most ample road infrastructure development in Romania's history in this area, Transport Minister Lucian Bode declared on Wednesday, as he visited major infrastructure sites in the counties of Braila and Galati. "This is the largest road infrastructure development in the history of Romania for this area.

The annual growth of Romania's economy in the first quarter of 2020 - 2.4% unadjusted and 2.7% when seasonally adjusted series, was mainly due to the household final consumption expenditure, which volume increased by 3.8%, contributing 2.5% to GDP growth, according to provisional data with the National Institute of Statistics (INS) released on Tuesday.

Rating agencies cannot ignore Romania's successful issue of bonds to the international markets and the fact that it continued to have economic growth in the first quarter of the year, the Minister of Public Finance Florin Citu told an interview with AGERPRES. "The fact that we had economic growth in the first quarter resulted in a reset of all macroeconomic models.