Costs 
Central Bank Official: Progressive Taxation Would Hike Workforce Costs
Eugen Radulescu, audit manager at Romanian National Bank, appreciates that coming back to progressive taxation would generate an important growth in personnel costs and would no way lead to an equilibration of the budget deficit. "There is a margin in which the flat tax brings in more revenues, since taxation on revenues only covered 3% of the GDP. A return to progressive taxation would not balance out the budget (...) It would only boost overall costs," Radulescu told a conference on economic issues. In his opinion, employers would pay their employees under the table without contributing to the national budget. In 2009, compared to 2008, monthly average costs of the personnel rose 5.6%, to RON2,425 per employee, according to National Institute of Statistics. citeste mai mult
4G Technology To Help Operators Cut Costs
Due to the introduction of the fourth generation (4G) communication technology, operators will be able to deal, in the next years, with the increase of mobile data traffic and reduce operating costs, mobile phone supplier Nokia Siemens Networks Romania general manager Dragos Chivu said. "Nokia estimates a 300-fold increase of mobile data traffic at an international level until 2015. In Romania, according to the data offered by traffic.ro, the number of visitors increased from 40 million in 2007, to 71 million in November 2009. In this context, introducing a 4G technology, namely the Long Term Evolution (LTE), will no longer be a dream, but a necessity," Chivu told a news conference. The Long Term Evolution is a last generation wireless communications technology, capable to ensure internet connecting speed of over 170 Mbps, ten times more than in the 3G networks. In Europe, the LTE technology is tested by mobile operators in Finland, Germany,... citeste mai mult
The Romanian banking system’s efficiency was smaller than in the region, in the first semester
In the first half of this year, the Romanian banking system, saw a fast cost rise. Therefore, at the end of June 2009, the income/costs report was larger in Romania than in Hungary or Poland. This is after, at the end of last year, the performance indicator was in line with the regional level. As a result, the Romanian banking system was characterized with a low level of efficiency in the first semester of this year. Data published by the National Bank of Romania has shown that, in June 2009, the report between the costs and the income of banks was 67.23%, where, in Hungary and Poland banks were recording a performance indicator of 52%, respectively 55%. Translated by: Tradu.org citeste mai mult
Harsh times for Formula 1
The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) plans radical cost-cutting measures in Formula 1, over the next five years, with the purpose of avoiding the loss of this competition. According to some documents published by the British daily newspaper The Times, Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, has convoked for the next week the top ten teams in Geneva. It bill be brought into discussion the introducing of new technical regulations, less expensive, related to the engine and chassis design. The proposal consists that from the beginning of 2010 to be introduced standard engines, or that the engines to be produced by a single supplier. Another alternative would be that starting with 2013, the engines and gearboxes to have smaller capacities and to be available at minimum prices for the independent teams. FIA has confirmed that it has distributed to the teams the agenda of discussions and the position paper, but refused to give any of the details in advance. citeste mai mult
13 banks can grant loans without considering BNR's restrictions
There are only four days till the new loaning norms will enter in force. More harsh conditions, higher costs for loans and fewer customers, these would be on short the effects of the new regulation imposed by the central bank. While the bankers complain that BNR let them without “the object of work” and the analysts forecast the end of “taking credit with the ID”, a third of the banks that activate on the Romanian market continue their activity without taking into account the restrictions of the national bank. These are the subsidiaries of the foreign banks from the EU member states that activate according to the rules of the mother – banks. Starting next Monday, the commercial banks from Romania will grant credits according to the new harsher rules. It’s the data since which the new BNR regulation “concerning the limitation of the risk credit for the credits directed to natural persons” will enter in force. A “black”... citeste mai mult
US houses price drop. Are you ready to buy one?
Those who want to purchase a home in the United States have to pay, besides the house, other costs of over 15% of the investment itself. Also, they must take into account the time lost and that they will have to wait many years to recover their investment. Article Translated by: NiC Translation Agency In the last year, U.S. housing prices reduced by 15.9%, according to the index developed by Standard & Poori's and Case-Shiller, which takes into account the evolution of the ten most important cities in the country. Thus, housing prices have reached in July 2008, on average, at the same values as of July 2004. For example, according to Century 21, one might buy a house in a suburb of Los Angeles city with approximately 100,000 euros, with a surface of 260 square meters, three rooms. At the same price one might buy an apartment with two rooms, with an area exceeding 205 square meters building, located in the same area, but in a Condominium pool. All 100,000 euros one... citeste mai mult
Tarrifs for RCA insurances to record an increase by over 30%
Most of the insurance companies have raised the tarrifs for the RCA policies with 30-40%, and for Casco insurances with over 20%. Although, in the European countries the costs for mending vehicles decreased, in our country have been doubled. The statistics of the Road Police show that the number of accidents has alarming increased, and the insurers witness to an explosion of damages frequency. Because of the rise in price for manual labor services, rise in price for the spare parts, rise in price for fuels and because of the damages that keep on increasing, starting with the beginning of the current year, the RCA insurers have increased the tariffs between 30% - 40% Increase of tariffs According to the norms of Insurance Supervisory Commission (ISC), the minimum limit of compensations for 2009 is established to a level of at least 300.000 euro for material damages produced in one and the same accident, no matter of the number of damaged persons and of at least 1.500.000... citeste mai mult
The banks hide the insurances for loans among commissions
One of the typical Romanian costs that aren’t included in the annual effective interest rate for accessing a personal need credit is the insurance. It has diverse shapes from a product to another or from a bank to another. The most often met are the credit insurances or life insurances. They aren’t compulsory by law but they are required by most of the banking institutions. They are quite expensive, and they are paid for almost the entire period of loaning or they are included in the monthly interest and cover in most of the cases the same risk: the decease. Sometimes, also the one of invalidity. In other words, the policy pays the interests in the situation in which the holder of the loan remains either invalid, or dies. “This type of insurance isn’t used anymore in any European country”, Georg Kovacs, Managing Director of EOS KSI Romania, the company which deals of recovering debts, states. In some cases, this type of insurances is even asked for... citeste mai mult
The absence of information doubles the costs of some credits
The loans of small values, granted fast for short terms but at higher costs than at banks, this is the key of success of the most non banking financial institutions. Almost weekly it is spoken about the join on the market of a new NBFI, prove that there is still room for this type of activities. And the fight for each customer is worth, in conditions in which there are cases when the returned sum is more then double than the loaned one. The loan with the identity card made history in time. Unofficial statistics showed that a Romanian out of three resorted at least once to this type of loan. Meanwhile, the enthusiasm calmed down. It is still practiced in diverse ways, in the big household devices networks. However, the loan to residence, step by step wins terrain. A kind of CAR (mutual help house), how say the ones that take loans before 1989, but more expensive. Both loan types are next to others in the portfolio of the non banking financial institutions (NBFI). In... citeste mai mult
An accommodation night costs even 500 euro during April 2-4
The NATO summit from April sets going a whole industry of the products and services supplies. For many of these the deadline for send the documentation expired and for others is for the curent month or in March. The demand is for a whole portfolio of offers, from renting hotels and cars to catering, furniture and decorative products. Many companies have already hand in products and services offers for the preparation of the summit which will carry on in Bucharest during April 2-4. Other auctions have the deadline towards the end of this month or in March. Many of them follow to designate the winners in the next weeks while for certain services and supplies of products, the companies already started the preparations. 500 busses and minibuses Concerning the auto transportation, „The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the second great credit chief accountant after the Chamber of Deputies, will set up an auction for the renting of 400-500 busses and minibuses”,... citeste mai mult
