TODAY’S NEWS
ECONOMY
-Romania’s non-performing loan (NPL) ratio remained below 3% in the first half of 2023, the same as in the second half of 2022, ranging between 2.6% and 2.7%, Ziarul Financiar (ZF) daily reported.
-The government has prepared the documents to invest over RON 1.44 billion (EUR 290 million) EU funds, for the modernization and development of the Port of Constanta, Profit.ro reported.
-Two programs designed for the development of the Romanian food industry will be released on September 30, 2023, with the total funds that will be made available to this sector exceeding EUR 1 billion, according to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Florin Barbu.
-Finance minister Marcel Bolos mentioned plans to levy a special tax “such as in Hungary or Italy” on the windfall profit of the banks.
-Office rents in Bucharest went by up to 15.8% in the last 12 months (June 2023 vs. June 2022) according to data from the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company.
POLITICS
President Klaus Iohannis is hosting, on Wednesday, at the Bucharest-based Cotroceni Palace, the 8th edition of the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI).
COMPANIES
German multinational electric utility company E.ON is set out to increase investments in gas and electricity distribution networks by investing another 1.4 billion euros until 2027, in addition to the 2.1 billion euros already invested since entering the Romanian market, in 2005, according to the general director of E.ON Romania, Volker Raffel.
TODAY’S MARKET
EXCHANGE RATES
| EUR 4.9615 | GBP 5.8043 |
| USD 4.6240 | CHF 5.1945 |
| BGN 2.5367 | MDL 0.2588 |
(Source: National Bank of Romania BNR)
BUCHAREST STOCK EXCHANGE (BVB) INDICES
| BET 1.98%, BET-TR 1.98%, BET-FI 1.36%, BET-NG 1.04%, BET-XT 1.78%, BETXT-TR 1.78%, BET-BK 1.29%, RO-TX 1.90%, BETAeRO –0.36% |
CAPITAL MARKET COMMENTARY
| Bucharest stocks closed higher on Wednesday bucking the trend across Europe where markets closed lower weighed down by rising concerns about inflation due to high oil prices, slowing economic growth, and possibility of further monetary tightening by central banks. |
