POLITICS
-Finance Minister Adrian Caciu said at the end of a government sitting on Thursday that it is more important to act on the energy prices and bring them “into a reasonable area,” than to apply cuts in the Value-Added Tax (VAT).
-Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca told the gala celebrating 20 years since the establishment of the Romanian German Chamber of Commerce and Industry AHK Romania that he is positive Romania’s well-deserved Schengen accession will provide new opportunities to business environment.
-The government adopted an emergency ordinance on Thursday (Sept. 1) which prolongs the cap on electricity and natural gas prices paid by certain categories of consumers (vulnerable household consumers as well as SMEs, companies in the food industry, and public institutions) from April 1 until August 31, 2023.
ECONOMY
-Romania’s foreign exchange reserves stood at EUR42.8 billion in August, increasing by EUR83 million than in July, National Bank of Romania data showed.
-Romanians spend this year approximately 2,043 lei for the beginning of the school year, up 51% compared to 2021, for clothes, footwear, stationery and textbooks, market research iSense Solutions data show.
-Industrial production prices jumped 52.3% in July y-o-y National Institute of Statistics (INS) data showed. The most important increases in industrial production prices were recorded in: the energy industry (+151.38%), the intermediate goods industry (+28.10%), durable goods industry (+18.88%), consumer goods industry (+17.12%) and capital goods industry (+11.43%).
COMPANIES & MARKET
-Romania’s ten largest pharmacy chains generated overall turnover worth RON12.3 billion in 2021, accounting for half of the total pharma retail market, according to local daily Ziarul Financiar calculations based on Trade Registry data.
-Residential developers in Romania focus mainly on areas outside Bucharest where the land supply is abundant, prices are lower and building permits are obtained without challenges, a Colliers market report on the evolution of the real estate market in the first half of 2022 shows.
SOCIAL
-Stateless persons and nationals of third countries, other than Ukraine, who will be able to prove that they have legal residence in Ukraine before February 24, will benefit from temporary protection, Romania’s Government spokesperson, Dan Carbunaru announced.
