What the newspapers say: January 22, 2008

America’s economic troubles have an impact on the Romanian economy, one newspaper reads on Tuesday. And another newspaper reads about credits Romanians can take up from other European banks present in Romania – at record interests. Elsewhere in the news, Germans in Bochum keep protesting against Nokia and Romanians, as one paper puts it.

Cotidianul reads about the economic troubles facing the United States and their repercussions on the European market. Romania’s national currency drops aggressively, the stock exchange dwindles and the political instability deepens the crisis.

The newspaper adds that political uncertainties, the inflation rate and the current account deficit put a hold on potential foreign investments in Romania. Economist Liviu Voinea says that the crisis of the international market, if anything, deepens the amplitude of the crisis in Romania.

Financial consultant Bogdan Baltazar says that domestic political fights have a great impact upon the negative evolution of the economy lately. However, experts argue that the stock exchange will soon recover but it depends almost entirely by evolutions abroad.

Still on the economic side, Gandul reads about the options Romanians have to take up credits from foreign banks present on in Romania and notes that European credits available for Romanians have very high interest rates.

The newspaper puts forward the example of BRD – Soc Gen where the annual effective interest rate is twice as high in Romania than the one in France. The difference represents the total amount of commissions and taxes.

The numbers show that Romanians pay the highest interest rates as compared to their European counterparts. A 5.9% interest rate in Romania translates into a 3.5% interest rate in Greece, on similar products. Even Bulgarians enjoy smaller interest rates: if 1-2 year credits in Romania have a 12,25% interest rate, Bulgarians enjoy a 9% rate.

Elsewhere in the news, at least 20,000 Germans will protest in Bochum on Tuesday against Nokia’s recent decision to close its factory there and relocate it to Romania, Evenimentul Zilei reads. The Finnish company is accused to have fired some 4,300 people.

The newspaper reads that protesters will march all day in an official demonstration due to be attended by politicians as well. Moreover, Germans all over the country seem to join the protests of the citizens in Bochum and urge others to join and boycott Nokia sales.

Given this, Nokia sells are expected to drop by 10 to 15% but Nokia officials seem confident that they will gain much more, as a consequence of relocation.