Some banks in Romania are not giving up on their old habits
Some banks in Romania are not giving up on their old habits and are still charging fees meant to rip off clients. The " balance confirmation fee '' is one of the fees the Piraeus Bank clients have to pay. More precisely, EUR 80 for each issued loan. Credit brokers haven't even heard of such a fee. ANPC is on trial with Piraeus Bank for the removal of this fee from contracts. (Romanian Source)
Banca Romaneasca plans to cut interest rates on loans
Banca Romaneasca plans to cut interest rates on loans after the dramatic slowdown in lending in the past few months made the financial institution miss its target related to assets which will have at the end of the year 6.7% less than then intended. At the end of December 2008, the bank's assets will amount to EUR 2.8 billion instead of EUR 3 billion, as it had been estimated at the beginning of the year. (Romanian Source)
BCR is cutting some fees charged for non-cash operations made using current accounts and is increasing the fees paid by clients for cash-related operation at RON 10 or EUR 10. This was BCR cuts to zero the fees for non-cash 12 operations and services, such as the drafting of the real estate collateral contract, the issuing of letters of good standing, etc. (Romanian Source)
Posta Romana to launch at the beginning of 2009 the first PrePay non-banking card
Posta Romana will launch at the beginning of 2009 the first PrePay non-banking card for private individuals. The card owners will be able to recharge it with small amounts of money, which helps increase their personal financial security when surfing the Internet, since they are in no danger of having their accounts emptied. The Prepay Mastercard will be denominated in RON. (Romanian Source)
Central Bank attracts another RON 903 million in short-term deposits
The Central Bank has attracted another RON 903 million (EUR 228 million) from six banks in short-term deposits, which mature on December 24. The Central Bank pays an interest rate of 10.25 percent, equal to the monetary policy rate. The Finance Ministry, in its turn, attracted RON 620 million in six-day deposits that pay 13.6 per year. (Romanian Source)
Lending will depend in the near future on a bank's ability to attract domestic financing, according to Ion Dragulin, head of the Financial Stability division of the Central Bank. Dragulin went on to say that nobody knows how the financing of the banking system would look like, especially in the long run. Romania is facing a rapidly growing foreign debt. (Romanian Source)
The RON, under pressure, is heading towards four units per euro
Last week, the euro reached RON 3.97 and on Friday the forex market closed at RON 3.93. The foreign banks' opinion on the trend of the European currency is positive and the ING officials say the currency exchange rate will go over RON 4.euro by year-end. The central bank of Romania sterilized on Friday, for the second time during last week, the excess liquidity on the market and the reference rate dropped RON 0.0033 from the previous day. The financial analysts have not excluded the possibility of a currency exchange rate which would go over RON 4/euro at the end of December in the absence of a massive intervention from the central bank. (Romanian Source)
The short-term interest rate on the interbank market dropped under the central bank's key interest rate
The short-term interest rate on the interbank market went down under the amount of the key interest posted by the central bank of Romania. The ING analysts explain the shrinkage of short-term interest rates by an excess liquidity.
Delta Distribution forecasts a turnover of EUR 45 million for this year
Ceramic tiles distributor Delta Distribution forecasts a turnover of EUR 45 million for this year, roughly the same as in 2007, and a slight dip in sales. The company completed this month the construction of a showroom in Bucharest. (Romanian Source)
Arpad Paszkany to build in Cluj-Napoca the first Sheraton hotel in Romania
Businessman Arpad Paszkany, owner of football team CFR Cluj, will build in Cluj-Napoca the first Romanian hotel affiliated to five-star brand Sheraton. The hotel will occupy six of the 27 floors of the Tower 1 complex. (Romanian Source)
All designated ministers pass Parliament commissions
All the designated ministers have passed the Parliament commissions. The entire Cabinet headed by Emil Boc is likely to be voted this week. The new coalition has hit a rock on its first sortie, as the coalition members fought over the Senate's leadership. Dan Voiculescu's running for Senate president was the cause of the row. (Romanian Source)
The first MPs elected by uninominal voting begin terms
The first MPs elected by uninominal voting began their terms in the Parliament in Bucharest. The leader of the PSD group in the Senate is Ion Toma, while Miron Mitrea and Dan Voiculescu are running for Senate Vice-President. (Romanian Source)
