English Section

7 septembrie 2014

The banking system, close to getting a seizure

The draft law which says that borrowers that have taken out loans denominated in foreign currencies may be allowed to repay early or to refinance their loans at the exchange rate effective at the time the loan was contracted was approved yesterday by the Commission for Industries of the Chamber of Deputies, UDMR deputy Odon Szabo, one of the initiators of the draft, told us.

The draft went tacitly through the Senate, and it is set to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making chamber of the Parliament, even though, all this time, the banking system has exerted heavy pressure, to stop it from being passed, as political sources told us.

"There is enormous pressure from the banking system for the initiative to be withdrawn. We are getting new versions which favor the banks, we are being threatened and even worse. The banks are lobbying for the elimination of the draft, claiming that it would cause the market to grind to a halt".

In June, Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Austrian president Heinz Fischer, and the latter said that talks with Russian officials yield better results than sanctions.

Băsescu issues a warning to OMV Austria

The increasing closeness between Austria and Russia seems to have greatly upset Traian Băsescu, who has announced yesterday that he has sent a message to the Austrian officials of OMV, telling them that they would be Romania's partners as long as Romania's national is served with priority. The president said: "There are numerous pieces information in the press that OMV Austria seems to be engaging in policies which are not beneficial to the Romanian state. I am saying it openly, directly, that they will be our partners as long as Romania's national interest is served with priority".

Daniel Dăianu: "It would be better if in the remaining months we saw a reinvigoration of public spending in Romania".

"Europe in a major quandary. What can Romania do?"

Reporter: The economy has entered a recession, after two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. How do you think the economy will evolve in the coming months, given a weaker harvest, the drop in investments, the drop in exports and the upcoming period of the presidential elections?

Daniel Dăianu: The economy will end 2014 with a real growth of the GDP of over 2%. 2013 has raised the bar 0nly circumstantially, because the harvest was outstanding. While in the first semester the level of public spending was in line with the schedule, aggregate demand and the dynamic of the economy would been better.

Pogonaru replies to Ciurezu, through proxies

The harsh attack of the CEO of SIF Oltenia, Tudor Ciurezu, against businessman Florin Pogonaru, has received a response, indirectly, from the management of "Prodplast Imobiliare" (PPLI).

After the chairman of SIF5 accused the Pogonaru family of resorting to a concealed spin-off of "Prodplast Imobiliare", to the detriment of the other shareholders, by transferring the main asset - the building which houses the company's headquarters - to a new company, the management of "Prodplast Imobiliare" maintains that, on the contrary, this action is intended to limit the risk of the retail project which is set to be developed.

The population gets a two-year respite from the increase of gas bills

The Department for Energy yesterday put up for public debate, the project for the expansion of the schedule for the liberalization of the price of natural gas for the population by 2021.

Răzvan Nicolescu, delegate minister for Energy told BURSA: "In the coming period I will be traveling a lot to Brussels to discuss this topic. I've already had the first talks with the Commission, which are encouraging for Romania. As you know, the current schedule is suspended and it stipulated that the price of domestic natural gas should converge with the European average by 2018".

1 Euro5.0810

1 Fr. elveţian5.4596

BNR

1 Liră sterlină5.8849

BNR

1 Dolar SUA4.3461

BNR

1 Gram Aur466.3616

BET18858.05

BET FI61868.7

BET NG1363.44

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