First quarter in numbers

January 1

- The increase in local taxes and fees comes into effect.

January 5

- The National Bank of Romania announces that, as of December 31, 2025, Romania's international reserves (currency plus gold) were 77,017 million euros, compared to 70,491 million euros on December 31, 2024.

January 16

- The European Commission approves the projects proposed by the Government for financing through the SAFE mechanism, from which our country has been allocated the amount of 16.68 billion euros.

January 27

- The Ministry of Finance announces that the budget deficit reached 146.03 billion lei, or 7.65% of GDP in 2025, compared to 152.72 billion lei, or 8.67% of GDP in 2024.

January 29

- Fidelis government bonds issued in January make their debut on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). The Ministry of Finance has raised 1.86 billion lei (367.3 million euros) through the first issue of Fidelis government bonds this year.

January 30

- The Government decides to increase Romania's capital at the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank by 100,256 shares, for a total value of 115,294,400 euros, with the payment of the paid-up capital (34,588,320 euros) in eight installments, starting with 2027, in order to maintain voting power.

- The Government orders new measures against PNRR fraud.

February 14

- The Fitch financial rating agency maintains Romania's long-term foreign currency issuer rating at "BBB-", with a negative outlook.

February 17

- The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania, meeting in session, decides the following: maintaining the monetary policy interest rate at the level of 6.50% per year;

maintaining the interest rate for the lending facility (Lombard) at 7.50% and the interest rate for the deposit facility at 5.50% per annum; maintaining the current levels of the minimum reserve requirements for lei and foreign currency liabilities of credit institutions.

February 19

- The Ministry of Finance lists on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) the government securities issued under the second FIDELIS edition of 2026, from February 6-13. The subscriptions made, worth over 1 billion lei (1.013 billion lei), are available for trading.

February 24

- The governing coalition reaches a consensus on the 3rd Fiscal Package, which concerns the reform of the administration and the relaunch of the economy.

February 26

- The German Central Bank, together with 19 national central banks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank (ECB), launches the third phase of the EU-funded programme "Strengthening the institutional capacities of the central banks of the Western Balkans with a view to their integration into the European System of Central Banks”.

March 2

- The National Bank of Romania announces that, as of February 28, 2026, the foreign exchange reserves at the National Bank of Romania stood at EUR 65,023 million, compared to EUR 65,812 million on January 31, 2025. The level of the gold reserve remained at 103.6 tonnes. Given the evolution of international prices, its value stood at EUR 14,616 million. Romania's international reserves (currency plus gold) as of February 28, 2026 were 79,639 million euros, compared to 80,033 million euros as of January 31, 2025.

March 3

- The manufacturer of electrical equipment and energy infrastructure solutions Electro-Alfa International debuts on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, following an initial public offering worth 579.64 million lei.

March 7

- The financial rating agency Moody's maintains Romania's long-term rating at "Baa3", with a "negative" outlook.

March 12

- The government decides to increase the guaranteed gross minimum wage in the country to 4,325 lei per month starting July 1, 2026, compared to 4,050 lei currently.

March 13

- The government adopts the 2026 state budget, which sets a deficit target of 6.2% of GDP for the end of the year.

March 17

- The National Bank of Romania announces that, in January 2026, the current account of the balance of payments recorded a deficit of 977 million euros, compared to 1,032 million euros in January 2025. In its structure, the balance of goods recorded a deficit lower by 414 million euros, the balance of services - a surplus lower by 12 million euros, the balance of primary income made a negative contribution of 530 million euros, and the balance of secondary income recorded a surplus higher by 183 million euros.

March 19

- The Government adopts a draft emergency ordinance to protect national interests in strategic areas, through which the state could use economic instruments to maintain and capitalize on strategic industrial capacities when the operators that hold them face financial difficulties.

March 20

- The State Budget Law and the State Social Insurance Budget Law are adopted by Parliament.

March 24

- The National Bank of Romania announces that broad money supply (M3) recorded a balance of 789,841 million lei at the end of February 2026. This increased by 0.6% (no change in real terms) compared to January 2026, and compared to February 2025 it increased by 7.1% (-2% in real terms).

March 26

- The Ministry of Finance announces that the consolidated general budget ended with a deficit of 14.23 billion lei, or 0.7% of GDP in the first two months of 2026, compared to a deficit of 30.24 billion lei, or 1.58% of GDP in the same period in 2025.

- The Government declares, by emergency ordinance, a crisis situation on the crude oil and petroleum products market for the period April 1-June 30, 2026, with the possibility of extension.

March 27

- UniCredit Bank lists its sixth corporate bond issue on the BVB, attracting 600 million lei from institutional investors.

March 31

- The Government extends until June 30, 2026 the capping of the commercial mark-up on basic foodstuffs, maintaining the mechanism introduced by GEO no. 67/2023.

- The BET index, which groups the 20 most liquid stocks on the BVB, rose by 13.7% in the first quarter, to 27,789 points.

- The BET-BK index, the benchmark for the performance of BVB equity funds, rose by 11.3%, to 5,379 points.

- Shares of energy infrastructure company Premier Energy rose by almost 46% in the first quarter, supported by reported results.

- Shares of natural gas transporter Transgaz Mediaş appreciated by 29.7%. The company's management proposed allocating about half of last year's profit as dividends.

- Shares of energy producer and supplier Hidroelectrica appreciated by 19.5%, based on reported results.

- Banca Transilvania shares appreciated by 18.5%, those of BRD - Societe Generale - by 4.1%.

- The shares of the drug manufacturer Antibiotice Iaşi fell by 25.8% in the first quarter, as it recorded a decrease in profitability.

- The BET-FI index, of former SIFs and Fondul Proprietatea, recorded an increase of 7.7%, up to 97,580 points, the smallest appreciation among all baskets of shares in the BVB Regulated Market, amid the depreciation of Fondul Proprietatea shares and the weaker performance of Longshield Investment Group and Infinity Capital Investments shares.