The income tax has increased about four times in Romania since 1950, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The evolution of gross and net earnings shows that we have reached a doubling compared to the period before the political regime change, which occurred in 1989 (see data presented in extenso and centralized by decades in the table below). More
Far from the public attention, the value of the assets held in the seven private funds that manage the pension money in Pillar II for seven and a half million future pensioners decreased dramatically in the second part of February and continued to decline during March, with the minimum being reached on the 18th of March 2020. More
Romania ranks fourth among EU Member States in terms of the share in gross value added (GVA) of enterprises with foreign capital (controlled from abroad) – FCE –, according to a study published by Eurostat, based on data from 2017. Although they represented only 1.3% of the total number of European companies, FCE generated 26% of GVA. More
Germany (16.6%), France (12.4%) and Italy (9.2%) are the countries that hold the largest share in the Romanian economy by the number of employees operating in 80,591 groups of enterprises, according to the data processed and published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) for 2018. Together with the USA (8.3%) and the Netherlands (7.6%), they control most of the existing enterprise groups in Romania. More
The risk of poverty recorded in Romania for the entire population was higher in 2019 than in 2008, according to data published by Eurostat. Almost one in four Romanians (23.8%) had an equivalent level of disposable income less than 60% of the national median.It should be noted that this critical indicator for living standards had lower values during the crisis period 2009-2013 than after the return of economic results to the level of 2008 and has stabilized in the last three years at a level similar to that before the previous crisis. However, there were significant changes by age-groups. More
The macroeconomic situation of Romania is a subject of considerable debate inside the country. The important development of the country is, nevertheless, marred by imbalances and underwhelming reforms, constantly raising the specter of outsized impact of crises both internal and external. What follows is a selection of quotes from the Council Recommendation on the 2020 National Reform Programme of Romania and delivering a Council opinion on the 2020 Convergence Programme of Romania. The document was published on May 20th in 2020 and contains interesting tidbits, despite the Brussels language that may lead to readers’ eyes glazing over. More
The public debt officially measured by the Romanian Ministry of Finance based on the European methodology advanced, in July 2020 alone, almost as much as in the whole second quarter, when Romania was caught in the middle of the pandemic-induced crisis shock and the quarterly GDP decreased by 12.3% compared to the previous quarter. The explanation for the relative increase as a public debt share of GDP (2.1 percentage points in Q2 and 2 pp in just one month, July 2020) is not limited to the increase by about 40% of the additional monthly borrowed amounts (RON 13.5 billion compared to the monthly average of 9.7 billion in full pandemic), but also in the reduction of the reporting base by over RON 20 billion (approx. EUR 4.1 billion) as a result of the methodology used. More
The data included in the autumn report of the World Bank, “COVID-19 and Human Capital”, which brings the forecast for Europe and Central Asia countries up to date shows the skepticism of this institution’s specialists regarding a rapid recovery of the Romanian economy, by reference to official estimates issued locally. Thus, the National Commission forecasted an economic decrease of -3.8% this year, followed by a recovery of 4.9%, which would bring GDP level in 2021 to + 0.9% above that registered in 2019. More
Romania was among the least affected EU Member States in Q2 2020 in terms of temporary layoffs, reduced working hours or job losses, according to the analysis published by Eurostat. The consequences of Covid19 pandemic varied significantly from one country to another, the most affected being Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Ireland and Greece. More
The Romanian leu was much more stable during the pandemic than the currencies of Central European countries with a similar exchange rate regime – the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Data published by the National Bank of Romania shows a much lower devaluation of our national currency against the euro, of only 1.95% between January and October, well below the levels recorded by Czech koruna (-7.38%), Polish zloty (-6.44%) or Hungarian forint (-7.78%). More
The GDP 2020 estimate has been reduced for the third time in a row in the so-called Preliminary Autumn Forecast for the budget amendment published by the specialty National Commission. From an economic result of RON 1,141.4 billion according to the estimate issued in February, we went to RON 1,082.1 billion in April’s estimate, to RON 1,058.0 billion in August and now we reached RON 1,050.5 billion. More
Over the last few years, the United Kingdom has been Romania’s most important foreign trade partner with whom we have managed to record a significant trade surplus. The island economy’s exit from the community bloc and the establishment of barriers in the trading of goods, even non-tariff barriers (the granting of zero customs duties was finally recorded during negotiations), will affect the trade balance of our country. More
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