Finance | 6 June, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Growth of Romanian retail banking stands out in Europe
The European retail banking sector experienced a significant deceleration in income growth in 2024, dropping to 2.9% from 18% in 2023.
The European retail banking sector experienced a significant deceleration in income growth in 2024, dropping to 2.9% from 18% in 2023.
Despite an aging vehicle fleet in the region, drivers are postponing car replacements, opting instead to fuel up with premium petrol, finds a recent study by MOL Group conducted across CEE.
Around 75% of investors plan to increase their exposure to rental housing (PRS), purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), and collective living solutions over the next five years, shows a survey by Cushman & Wakefield.
The Romanian retail market experienced a substantial surge in April and May 2025, with approximately 150,000 sqm of new retail schemes delivered, including the super-regional Mall Moldova in Iași.
Early Game Ventures (EGV) has announced a significant seed investment of €1.2 million in Servo AI, a local startup leveraging computer vision and AI to deliver.
In a significant political shift for CEE, Romania elected Nicușor Dan as president on May 18, 2025, while Poland's pro-European candidate Rafał Trzaskowski narrowly led the first round of its presidential election. These outcomes suggest a regional move toward centrist, pro-EU leadership.
The office space market across CEE experienced a slowdown in demand during Q1 2025, with less than 30,000 sqm of office space delivered across the region, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has cut its 2025 growth forecast for its regions by 0.2 percentage points to 3.0%, with a moderate rebound to 3.4% expected in 2026. This follows a similar downgrade in February and reflects mounting global headwinds, including rising trade policy uncertainty, softening external demand, and newly imposed tariffs.
Recent market data by CBRE confirm the resilience of the industrial and retail sectors, which are seeing a sustained pace of construction this year.
A study by Forvis Mazars Group reveals that while C-suite executives in Romania and CEE remain largely optimistic about growth.
Budapest-based Shopper Park Plus (SPP) is considering a range of financing options to further its corporate development, following the successful completion of a portfolio deal in Slovakia with a 9.5% yield.
Bucharest's hotel market is experiencing a strong recovery, with significant growth in key performance indicators, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
Romanian mobile accessories retailer Contakt has announced plans to expand its national network and venture into CEE markets in a bid to grow the business.
President Donald Trump announced new import tariffs on all goods entering the US effective as of April 2, hitting equities, long term yields and CEE-based currencies. In response to these global tariffs, growth forecasts for 2025 and 2026 are being revised in the CEE, according to a report by Erste Group.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a regional loan of up to €120 million to AFI Europe to support its development pipeline in Serbia, Poland, Romania, and Czechia.
Global IT service provider Sigma Software Group has announced the opening of its first engineering hub in Romania, marking a significant expansion of its European presence.
Cross-border ecommerce transactions in CEE have seen a significant surge, climbing by 15% to reach €24 billion in 2024 compared to 2023.
Construction labour cost and availability have become the primary concerns for real estate developers in Central Europe, according to a new survey by Deloitte. This shift sees it surpassing project financing, which has been the dominant issue in recent years.
Investment incentives across CEE are proving to be a major draw for Research and Development (R&D) and Business Services Sector (BSS) projects, with support reaching up to 70% of qualified costs, according to Colliers' report.
Bucharest has seen a 12% increase in average office fit-out costs in 2024, surpassing €1,000 per sqm, but this level is still among the lowest in capital cities across CEE, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox research.
Romania's annual inflation rate climbed unexpectedly to 5.5% in May, up from 4.9% in April, driven primarily by increases in food and services prices.
Travel tech company FlixBus is adding new international coach connections from Romania to Greece and bolstering existing routes to Bulgaria.
EDP, through its subsidiary EDP Renewables, has opened its largest solar park in Romania, located in Albina, taking its total solar and wind capacities in the country to 570 MW.
The German tech company cbs purchased the SAP division of Romanian company SkyConsult, marking its entry into the local market.
Romanian tech company Metaminds, which supplies digitalization services for both the private sectors, named Ovidiu Ghiman as its new CEO, replacing Andrei Cruceru.