Romania’s follow-up agreement with the International Monetary Fund will comprise several key requirements meant to rein in the budget deficit and boost the economy, including a better management of the large state-run companies, people close to the negotiations said Monday. read more...

Members of Romania’s ruling coalition decided Monday the Government should pass an emergency decree extending the deadline for the recalculation of military pensions until December 31, 2011, MP Kelemen Hunor told Mediafax. read more...

Bankers are unanimously betting lending to the private sector will resume growth in 2011, after two years of declines, though do it slowly, most probably at a one-digit pace. Only small players are hoping for two-digit rates. read more...

Bucharest Court decided on Thursday to reject the request of the second group of dissatisfied BCR clients to suspend the payment of their dues to the bank and compelled them to pay the bank 100,000 lei representing its legal costs. Lawyer Gheorghe Piperea declared for HotNews.ro that this decision is a message for those who want to consider suing banks. read more...

The county agencies for social services work to the community’s benefit will pay the guaranteed minimum income to the socially assisted people, only based on the reports the town halls are to drawn up on the work they do to the benefit of the community, Labour, Social Protection and Family Minister Ioan Nelu Botis announced in a news conference in the end of the Government meeting, on Wednesday. read more...

World Bank approved on Thursday the second installment for Romania, worth 300 million euro within the Development Program Loan, the WB Bucharest office Chief Economist Catalin Pauna declared. read more...

By recalculating the 25,000 military pensions, the Government spends 8% more than it did before the recalculation, according to ZF calculations. read more...

Banks with a riskier financial situation compared with that of other players should contribute more to the Banking System Deposits Guarantee Fund (FGDB), believes Eugen Dijmărescu, general manager of the institution. read more...

"Mămăliga din Orientul Mijlociu" ("Middle East Polenta") that is the title chosen by Shachar Shaine, the former head of Tuborg Romania, for his speech delivered at the luxury Loft restaurant in Bucharest, held by a businessman closely connected to the beverage industry, Pepe Berciu, on Wednesday night. read more...

Steven van Groningen, head of the Raiffeisen Bank, the seventh leading local bank, says he has been seeing an increase in demand from companies and expects it to be the growth driver for the lending business for the rest of the year. read more...

UniCredit wants to gain market share on the Romanian retail market, and is set to focus on opening branches, as well as on developing distribution through alternative channels, says Gianni Papa, head of operations of the Italian group in Central and Eastern Europe. read more...

Bancpost will become a stronger player on the corporate banking segment, to match its performance on the retail segment, says Peter Weiss, appointed as CEO of the bank controlled by the Greek at Eurobank. read more...

Economy ministry relies in 2011 on revenues of 3.11 billion lei of which 2.88 billion lei would come from privatizations. read more...

The Romanian Defense Ministry presented on its website the situation regarding recalculated military pensions, based on income statements filed by Wednesday, which shows 25,798 pensions have been recalculated, of which 18,293 will be raised. read more...

Offering employees benefits in the form of voluntary private pensions (Pillar III) can reduce an employer’s total staff expenses by 1.1% and increase a company’s profit by 4%-5%, according to calculations of the Association for Private Pensions in Romania (APAPR). read more...

The IMF's big disappointment after two years of arrangement with Romania is that the economy has yet to return to growth, says Jeffrey Franks, the head of the mission negotiating and managing the Fund's relationship with Bucharest. read more...

The Government needs to ensure a stable business environment in Romania in 2011, without frequent and unexpected changes of fiscal rules, as has been the case in the last few years, with stability and predictability being even more important and more beneficial than certain fiscal incentives, say fiscal consultants. read more...

US Citi, with operations in Romania for over 15 years, is stepping up investments to the tune of tens of million euros annually to cement retail operations, launched broadly as late as the autumn of 2009, after the onset of the crisis. read more...

The International Monetary Fund will show flexibility regarding the duration of a follow-up agreement with Romania, IMF mission head Jeffrey Franks said Tuesday, without giving an exact timeframe. read more...

Romania’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday cleared a government emergency decree issued in 2009 that raised taxes on gambling and the minimal value of share capital required for a gambling license. read more...