Savings rate in Romania reaches ‘90s level

The savings rate rose by 3.2 percentage points in Romania in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2015, reaching 12.5%. It has reached the level recorded in the ‘90s, according to a report by Andrei Radulescu, chief economist of the local lender Banca Transilvania. The households’ revenues increased by 7.4% year-on-year to EUR 596 per month whereas the household expenditures went up by 3.5% year-on-year to almost EUR 522 per month, according to the National Statistics Institute (INS). This has led to an increase in the savings rate, Radulescu explained. This increase was due to the higher salaries as well as lower prices, due to the VAT rate cuts. The hourly cost of work rose by 9.73% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2015. In the restaurant and hotel sector, the hourly cost of work increased by 13.9% year-on-year whereas the salaries in public administration saw a 14.2% annual increase. In the healthcare, salaries increased by 22.1% year-on-year, while wages in education went up by 23.1% per year. The savings rate amounted to 12.7% in the European Union in the first quarter of the year. editor@romania-insider.com