Flooding has caused a death toll of 16 so far, with other nine people gone missing, after as many as 28 counties in the country were affected by heavy rain. The flooding is expected to cause damages higher than 0.6 percent of the Romanian GDP, according to Interior Minister Vasile Blaga, who said the country will use the EU solidarity fund for help.

The Romanian currency has further depreciated today and the Romanian Central bank has published a rate of RON 4.35 for an EUR. The US dollar has also strengthened, reaching a record rate of RON 3.56 for a USD.

Housing trading prices in Romania dropped by 3.9 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period of last year, according to the first real estate index published by the Romanian Institute of Statistics (INS). The data collected was based on information provided by notaries starting January 2009.

The Romanian currency RON has continued to depreciate on Monday, after the week-end announcement about the VAT increase and after having suffered a first round of depreciation last Friday, after the Constitutional Court ruled out the decrease of pensions.

The exchange rate reached RON 4.37 for EUR on the inter-banking market towards the end of the day, after foreign investors have bought euro.

Romanian media
Bad news from Romania hurt forint, Romania market is too small – in Ziarul Financiar, Euro up to new all time highs, NBR won’t intervene – in Ziarul Financiar, Budget deficit climbs by another 1bn euros in May, to 3.1% of GDP – in Ziarul Financiar, Reduced VAT rates of 9% and 5% remain unmodified – in Ziarul Financiar

Romtelecom tailors voice and Internet offer for renewed consumption decline – in Ziarul Financiar

10 largest consumer goods firms: The crisis, visible in halved profits – in Ziarul Financiar

Several Chinese companies have discussed the possibility of investing in wind farms, agriculture and the mining system in Romania with the local Government in the last month, in an attempt to increase trade in Eastern Europe. Among the planned Chinese projects in Eastern Europe is a EUR 1 billion thermal power plant, according to the Financial Times.

The Romanian central bank (BNR) is likely to keep the key interest rate unchanged at 6.25 percent after its board meeting this Wednesday, according to analysts quoted by Mediafax newswire.

The Central bank has been slashing the rate in its previous board meetings, but it will not continue to do so due to the recently announced hike in the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate to 24 percent.

The key interest rate was of 8 percent at the beginning of the year, when BNR continued to cut the interest rate, after slashing 2.25 percentage points last year.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices in Romania are 34 percent below the average in the European Union, which puts the country among the cheapest places to buy these products, according to Eurostat.

Bread and cereals were priced 39 percent below the EU average in Romania last year. The same products were even cheaper in Bulgaria and Poland, but most more expensive in Denmark – 46 percent above the Eu average.

The tax revenues collected to the Romanian state budget are among the lowest in the European Union when compared to the local GDP. The ration of these revenues was of 28 percent out of GDP in 2008, while the EU average where close to 40 percent, according to Eurostat. Romania's tax rates are not among the lowest in the region, but its collection lags behind other EU states.

Intesa Sanpaolo Bank has increased its share capital in Romania by EUR 30 million, which has upped its social capital by 50 percent to EUR 87.4 million. Intesa sanpaolo SpA owns 99.5 percent of the shares of the local bank subsidiary.

Intesa Sanpaolo Bank had EUR 800 million in assets at the end of the first quarter this year, up 6.5 percent on December last year. It portfolio of deposits went up by 6.1 percent, to EUR 268 million.

Romanian media

Romanian capitalists, unite!You have to hang in there- in Ziarul Financiar

The recently-announced five percentage points VAT increase in Romania will lead to a hike in prices on all levels of the economy and to a drop in the Romanians' purchasing power. A higher inflation and unemployment rate will kick in, analysts have warned. The 24 percent VAT rate in Romania will be among the highest in the European Union and the highest so far in the country. The previous VAT increase in Romania, in 1998, was also of four percentage points, to 22 percent. The lower VAT rate of 19 percent was enforced in 2000 and stayed the same ever since.