NPL Ratio To Drop After Accounting Changes, BNR’s Olteanu Says
Non-performing loans in Romania should fall below 17% of total once banks will be allowed to include state treasuries in their portfolios, central bank deputy governor Bogdan Olteanu said Thursday.
“The European Banking Authority has established the guidelines for computing the [accounting] indicators, so that all countries will be using the same measurements by the end of the year,” Olteanu told a conference organized by Ziarul Financiar.
Olteanu said the new accounting indicator, which will allow banks to include state treasuries in their financial reports, will draw new investors to the Romanian distressed-debt market. (Curierul National)
World Bank To Approve EUR250M Healthcare Loan To Romania
The World Bank will probably approve a EUR250 million loan to Romania Friday, to improve the country’s healthcare infrastructure, and government might also tap another EUR300 million from a previous loan, said Elisabetta Capannelli, the lender’s country manager.
The bank is working with the Romanian government on a new country partnership strategy for 2014-2017 that may include funding of EUR1 billion a year, Capannelli told Bloomberg in an interview in Bucharest. It may take as much as six months for lawmakers to ratify a program, allowing for disbursement to start, she said.
“This is only a first step and a lot remains to be done as there is an important gap between the quality of Romania’s health care system compared with the rest of the European Union,” Capannelli said. (Puterea)
Report On Cantacuzino Institute Management Sent To Prosecutor’s Office
President Traian Basescu decided that the report presented in the meeting of the Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT) related to the faulty management of the Cantacuzino Institute should be sent to the prosecutor’s office of the Supreme Court.
CSAT established that the faulty management of the National Institute of Research and Development for Microbiology and Immunology “Cantacuzino”, the deficient production control, the failure to follow procedures, as well as the improper Health Ministry’s involvement triggered deficiencies which might generate vulnerabilities to the public health; thus, to prevent any repeating, certain measures have to be taken. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Calin Popescu Tariceanu To Set Up Liberal Economic Platform
Calin Popescu Tariceanu sent PNL president Crin Antonescu an open letter, announcing he decided to set up the Liberal Economic Platform, instead of a new liberal party, to avoid jeopardizing the PNL score at the elections for the European Parliament.
The Senate Chairman announced he set up the Liberal Economic Platform, which is “a structure that the National Liberal Party needs to return to governing”, targeting to promote an economic program for the country’s development, based on the liberal vision. (Evenimentul Zilei)
Romania Gets EUR3M EU Funds To Revamp Putna Monastery
Romanian deputy Prime Minister and minister of regional development Liviu Dragnea signed Thursday the contract for EUR3 million EU non-reimbursable financing to restore, modernize and further preserve Putna monastery.
Dragnea stated that the money will be used to restore and consolidate the monastery, as well as its electric and heating systems, as Putna monastery represents an important cultural symbol for Romania, being directly connected to the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great, whose tomb it hosts. (Romania Libera)