Demand for loans in the agricultural sector has increased eight times in the past few years, Agriculture minister Valeriu Tabără claims. read more...

BCR Leasing, the leasing division of the BCR group, has budgeted an eight-fold increase in the volume of funding granted, after in 2010 its turnover fell 87% to just 18 million euros, says Bogdan Speteanu, general manager of the company. read more...

Szabolcs Ferencz, country retail manager with MOL Romania, the fourth largest player on the domestic oil market, says the existence of some domestic hydrocarbon reserves cannot influence pump prices and the states that keep the prices per petrol litre under control are making a major mistake. read more...

Retail lending, be it consumer or mortgage loans, has recorded another weak start of the year, with banks' promotional offers failing to attract clients. read more...

Private pensions fund Eureko is the first to publish its detailed structure of investments, after the private pensions watchdog announced it was preparing to tighten reporting and transparency rules for all pension managers. read more...

Private medical services operator Centrul Medical Unirea, which also holds Euroclinic hospital in Bucharest, is changing the name of all the facilities it operates to Regina Maria (Queen Mary), the private healthcare network, following a rebranding worth several hundred thousand euros. read more...

President Traian Băsescu intends to give another chance to the Financial Guard and to the National Customs Authority, which he is considering keeping as they are until December 31st in order to test their ability to fight tax evasion. read more...

Vehicle sales to individuals fell significantly in February, because they are waiting for the car scrappage scheme, which has been delayed for the third time until March 20th, with the market now exclusively relying on firms. read more...

The three-month Euribor, the indicator to which the cost of loans to customers is tied, has gone up to 1.17% from 0.6% in the summer of 2010, on fears of ECB raising the key rate for euros. read more...

Romanian industrial sales fell 11% on the month in January, but were up 25.5% from the year-ago period, the country’s statistics institute INS said Tuesday. read more...

The Romanian Government was due to assume responsibility before Parliament over a series of changes to the Labor Code during a joint session of the two houses on Tuesday. The opposition has announced that once the government assumes responsibility it will submit a censure motion against it. read more...

Romania’s largest oil company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) Tuesday raised its gasoline and diesel oil pump prices by 0.09 lei (EUR1=RON4.2065) per liter, the company said in a statement. read more...

Employees of Romanian carmaker Automobile Dacia got a wage raise of 260 lei (EUR1=RON4.2065), or 13%, under the new collective work contract, Dacia union vice-president Ion Iordache told MEDIAFAX Tuesday. read more...

Damages caused by floods in Romania exceeded EUR3 billion in the 2005-2010 interval, Pool of Insurance against Natural Disasters (PAID) general manager Marius Bulugea said Tuesday. read more...

Romania’s leu surged against the euro in mid-trade Tuesday on a positive sentiment in the international markets and the central bank’s reference rate gained almost 0.5% to 4.1869 units, from 4.2065 units in the previous day. read more...

Romanian homeowners who did not insure their homes by January 15, 2011, either through mandatory or voluntary insurance policies, may be fined 100 lei (EUR1=RON4.1869) to RON500 by local authorities, Pool of Insurance against Natural Disasters (PAID) general manager Marius Bulugea said Tuesday. read more...

The rising gasoline prices are a bad effect of the fact Romania's oil reserves had been ceded in an unfavorable contract, Romanian PM Emil Boc said on Tuesday, quoted by Mediafax. He said the only tool at the hand of the government was to continue checks on the market through the fiscal authority and the Competition Council. read more...

Industrial new orders in Romania for both the internal and external market advanced 13 percent in nominal terms in January 2011 from December 2010, on a 47.8 percent rise in orders for intermediary goods, the National Statistics Institute (INS) reports. read more...

Romanian President Traian Basescu told investors from the Persian Gulf on Tuesday that they'd rather see the beauty of Romania by helicopter than by car. He recommended potential investors at an economic forum in Bucharest to drive their capital towards agriculture, energy and infrastructure and said the Romanian business environment "is not a hostile one". read more...

The Romanian Government on Monday approved a bill aiming to cut Interior Ministry budget spending and reduce staff numbers, people close to the matter said Tuesday. read more...