National Currency

Romanian New Leu (RON)

Exchange Rate

1 EUR = 4.5853 RON (2017-08-23)

During the last 9 years EURRON exchange rate was within the range 3.6798 - 4.5800, reaching its maximum in Jul 2012 and falling to its minimum in Oct 2008.

GDP

According to Eurostat, nominal GDP of Romania in 2016 was 169.6 bln EUR.

Romania outperforms the European Union in terms of real GDP growth with the average annual differential coming to 2.0% over the past 10 years (2006 - 2016). In 2016 real GDP growth was 4.8% which was above the Euro Area average (1.8%) and above the European Union average (1.9%). Real GDP growth in 2017 - 2022 are IMF's estimates.

In 2016, nominal GDP per capita in Romania was 8 600 EUR.

Romania has a below-average level of wealth in terms of per-capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP); this economic welfare indicator has, on average, fell behind that of the European Union by -31.9% over the past 10 years (2006 - 2016). GDP per capita at PPP in 2017 - 2022 are IMF's estimates.

Inflation Rate

According to Eurostat, inflation rate in Romania in 2016 expressed as annual percentages of average consumer prices was -1.1% which was below the Euro Area average (0.2%) and below the European Union average (0.3%). Inflation rates in 2017 - 2022 are IMF's estimates.

Unemployment Rate

Government Bond Yield

According to Eurostat, government bond yield in Romania in Jun 2017 was 3.67%, compared to 3.75% in May 2017.

Credit Ratings (as of Sep 2016)

Double Taxation Agreements

Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) is an agreement between two or more countries for the avoidance of double taxation.

DTAs of Romania: 80 Signed Agreements

Romania signed DTAs which already came info force with the following jurisdictions (for agreements which came into force after 01 January 2013 the date of coming into force is given in brackets):

There are also several agreements between Romania and other jurisdictions which were signed but haven't yet come into force (for agreements signed after after 01 January 2013 of signing the agreement is given in brackets):

Information Exchange

There are 3 ways for jusrisdictions to exchange information on tax matters:

• spontaneously;
• on request;
• automatically.

Spontaneous exchange of information is provision of information that is forseeably relevant to another party without a request being previously sent.

Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) enable exchange of information on request relating to a specific tax investigation, either criminal or civil.

Automatic information exchange allows jurisdictions to exchange information automatically, without having a specific tax investigation.

Exchange on Request: 1 Signed Agreements

Romania signed TIEAs which already came info force with the following jurisdictions (for agreements which came into force after 01 January 2013 the date of coming into force is given in brackets):

Automatic Exchange: Starts in September 2017

Romania signed the automatic information exchange agreement on 29 October 2014 and committed to start the automatic information exchange in September 2017.

Further Information

• Automatic Exchange of Information on Financial Accounts
• Countries Which Will Not Automatically Exchange Account Information

FATCA

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) which became law in the United States in March 2010, focuses on reporting made by foreign financial institutions about financial accounts held by US taxpayers or foreign entities in which US taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest. The FATCA-reporting is facilitated by Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs).

Romania has FATCA agreement with the U.S. in effect since 28 May 2015 (Intergovernmental Agreement Model 1). Financial institutions operating in Romania are required to identify U.S. taxpayers by January 1, 2017 and to report the information for 2017 and the subsequent years. The agreement is reciprocal: Romanian financial accounts hold in U.S. financial institutions will be reported to Romanian authorities.

Further Information

• FATCA and European countries

Financial Market Development

According to World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017, financial market development in Romania is scored 3.7 out of maximum 7.0 and ranked 86th out of 138 analysed economies. Soundness of banks is scored 4.4 bringing Romania into the 90th place, trustworthiness and confidence of financial market is scored 4.6 (43rd place).

Deposit Guarantee Scheme

Deposit Guarantee Schemes compensate certain deposits held by depositors of a bank that becomes unable to meet its obligations.

From a depositor's point of view it is important to know:

• if the depositor is eligible within the terms of the deposit guarantee scheme;
• if the depositor's bank is a participant in the deposit guarantee scheme;
• if the depositor's type of deposit is covered by the deposit guarantee scheme.

All these details about deposit guarantee scheme in Romania are summarised in Table 1.

Further Information

• Deposit Guarantee Schemes in Europe

Country Ceiling for Deposits

Moody's country ceilings for deposits specify the highest rating that can be assigned to local- or foreign- currency denominated deposit obligations of a bank or other deposit taking institution domiciled within that country.

Local currency (Romanian new leu) deposit ceiling for Romania is set to A3 (upper medium grade), foreign currency deposit ceiling is Baa3 (lower medium grade).

Deposit Rates

In May 2017, an agreed annualised deposit rate in local currency (Romanian new leu) of new contracts with agreed maturity up to 1 year between credit institutions and households was 0.78% .

Further Information

• Compare Time Deposit Accounts in Romania

Banking Sector Structure

Currently there are 39 credit institutions operating in Romania.

In 2016 consolidated banking assets in Romania were 88 202.04 mln EUR. The consolidated banking assets' evolution is shown at Chart 8 below.

Recent structural changes (2013 - 2016) of the banking sector of Romania are summarised in Table 2.

The list of the most recently opened banks in Romania is provided in Table 3.

All the credit institutions operating in Romania can be classified into several categories. Table 4 summarises the number of banks in each category.

There are 8 branches of foreign banks from 8 different countries in Romania. Table 5 shows the number of branches grouped by the country of origin.