May 16, 2025 UPDATE (1)
A roundup of local and world news
Vlad Palcu, 16.05.2025, 16:57
ELECTION – The voting process for the second round of the presidential election started on Thursday at 10 P.M. (local time), with the opening of the first polling stations in Aukland, New Zealand. By 5 P.M. on Friday, some 110 thousand Romanians had already voted. Abroad, the election is scheduled to take place over three days: May 16, 17 and 18. Romanians abroad can vote in one of the 965 polling stations around the world, regardless of whether or not they have their domicile or residence outside the country. On Romanian territory, the second round of the presidential election will take place over a single day, Sunday, May 18, in about 19 thousand polling stations. According to the Permanent Election Authority, 87 foreign journalists and 159 international observers have been accredited. Running in the decisive round are the ultranationalist and populist leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, a self-proclaimed sovereigntist, and the pro-Western independent Nicușor Dan, the current Bucharest Mayor General.
BANKING – The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania on Friday decided to maintain both the monetary policy interest rate at 6.5% per year and the interest rates at which commercial banks can borrow from the Central Bank or receive on amounts held in Central Bank accounts at 7.5% and 5.5% per year, respectively. In the first quarter of this year, the annual inflation rate decreased less than expected, and, according to forecasts, the annual inflation rate will continue to fluctuate in the third quarter. The inflation will decrease slowly over the fourth quarter and go down only in the first quarter of 2026, just below the upper limit of the target range – 3.5%. The prolonged election cycle and growing political tension have reversed capital movements on the local financial market, with capital outflows increasing significantly in recent days. These changes have had a major impact on liquidity and interest rates on the capital market, as well as on the supply-demand ratio on the foreign exchange market, the country’s foreign exchange reserves and the exchange rate, Central Bank specialists warn. (VP)
