On behalf of the business community it represents, AmCham Romania calls for the return of the political class to the commitments it made to the society and to the economy, in order to reverse the depreciation of confidence in the investment and business climate, which, according to a recent AmCham survey, has declined to the minimum quotas registered in the first half of 2020, when Romania was hit by an acute lack of predictability generated by the first pandemic wave.
Companies almost unanimously confirmed that the stability and predictability of the political and regulatory framework have a direct impact on operational and investment decisions, most of them indicated that the current political instability is influencing their investment decisions and that they have increasing concerns about the evolution of macroeconomic indicators – inflation, interest rates.
The rapid depreciation of confidence in the investment climate proves once again that trust is hard to gain and quick to lose! There is need for a cross-party alignment of the entire political spectrum around the reforms that Romania and Romanians have been waiting for too long. In order to be a credible state in relation to investors, to external institutional partners and last but not least to its citizens, it is necessary for politics and politicians to serve Romania and not the other way around.
Every day of political instability is only aggravating Romania’s situation on all levels – health, education, economy, and the top emergencies of the moment call for a responsible approach of the real challenges Romania is facing.
Amidst the high uncertainty of the moment, what is certain is that NPRR represents a historic opportunity for Romania and must be the beginning of an accelerated and sustained path towards recovering major gaps in strategic areas and towards a sustainable development of the Romanian economy and society.
Similar to its involvement during the consultation period on NPRR, AmCham Romania remains firmly committed to supporting the efforts needed for the implementation of the reforms undertaken within NPRR, under the aegis of an honest and constructive partnership between the public and private environment.
The European Commission adopted a positive assessment of Romania’s recovery and resilience plan, under which the country will receive EUR14.2 billion in grants and EUR14.9 billion in loans under the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The Commission assessed Romania’s plan based on the 11 criteria set out in the RRF Regulation, according to an official statement. The analysis considered, in particular, whether the investments and reforms included in Romania’s plan support the green and digital transitions, contribute to effectively addressing challenges identified in the European Semester, and strengthen its growth potential, job creation and economic and social resilience.
The next step is the European Council’s approval of the plan, which would allow for the disbursement of EUR3.6 billion to Romania in pre-financing. This represents 13% of the total allocated amount for Romania. The Commission will authorize further disbursements based on the satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and targets outlined in the recovery and resilience plan, reflecting progress on the implementation of the investments and reforms.