Press Review - October 2, 2017

10.02.2017 By Oana Gavrila

Vlad Alexandrescu To Run for USR Party President

Former culture minister Vlad Alexandrescu is running for USR president at the party congress on October 28.

Alexandrescu announced on Facebook he decided to run for party leadership.

Also in the running for the position are Dan Barna and Cristian Seidler. They are all currently vice-presidents of the opposition party.

Romanian PM Criticizes Central Bank Over Rising Interest Rates

Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose criticized the central bank late for failing to stop a sharp rise in interbank interest rates.

“I think our colleagues, Romanians’ colleagues or those who should be that at the central bank were away from home, because that’s their role, to not let (rates) rise,” Tudose said after a meeting of his ruling Social Democratic Party.

“I haven’t had a talk with the governor and I might have one next week. We should at least know if it is still the national bank of Romania or whether it is a structure for gods concerned with their own existence.”

The three-month ROBOR rate, the average interbank lending interest rate used to determine interest rates for several types of loans in lei, reached 1.58% on Friday.

At the beginning of September, three-month ROBOR stood at 0.92%, from 0.87% at the beginning of the year. The three-month ROBOR rate hasn't topped 1% since October 2015.

Pump Prices Stay Nearly Unchanged

Petrom, Romania's leading oil and gas company, has raised pump prices by RON0.05 per liter following a hike in excise duties, while Rompetrol and Lukoil have so far kept prices unchanged.

Petrom raised pump prices by RON0.09 two weeks ago, when the excise hike was first introduced.

Pump prices reflect international oil prices, the tax environment and market competition, oil companies said.

Time of Low Interest Rates Nears End - Central Bank Official

Interbank lending rates are growing due to inflationary expectations and inflation is expected to rise significantly, said Eugen Radulescu, the central bank’s financial stability director.

“The interest rate cannot be small when inflation is high. The time of small interest rates is near the end.”

He said talk of a jump in the ROBOR rate is disproportionate, as the indicator grew by less than one percentage point, while inflation has grown more and will continue to grow.