December in numbers

• December 1

- Parliamentary elections are held, and following the vote cast by over 9.4 million citizens, the following structure of the Legislature results: PSD - 122 mandates, AUR - 91, PNL - 71, USR - 59, SOS Romania - 40, UDMR - 32, POT - 31, National Minorities Group - 19.

- The NBR announces that, on November 30, 2024, the foreign exchange reserves at the National Bank of Romania stood at 61,174 million euros, compared to 62,841 million euros on October 31, 2024. The level of the gold reserve remained at 103.6 tons. Given the evolution of international prices, its value stood at 8,399 million euros. Romania's international reserves (currency plus gold) as of November 30, 2024 were 69,573 million euros, compared to 71,361 million euros as of October 31, 2024.

• December 2

- The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) validates the first round of the presidential elections, held on November 24, which placed Elena Lasconi (USR) and Călin Georgescu (independent) in the first two places.

• December 6

- The Constitutional Court decides to annul the first round of the presidential elections. President Klaus Iohannis announces that he will remain in office until a new president of the country is elected.

- The euro reaches the maximum exchange rate of the month against the leu: 4.9773 lei, according to NBR figures.

- The gram of gold, quoted at the minimum level of the month: 398.6339 lei, according to NBR.

• December 9

- The dollar - at the lowest rate of the month against our currency: 4.6980 lei, according to the National Bank of Romania.

• December 10

- The franc reaches the highest rate of the month against our currency: 5.3650 lei, according to the National Bank of Romania.

• December 11

- The euro - at the lowest rate of the month against the leu: 4.9684 lei, according to the National Bank of Romania.

• December 12

- The gram of gold reaches the highest price of the month: 412.7388 lei, according to the National Bank of Romania.

• December 13

- The National Bank of Romania announces that, in the period January-October 2024, the current account of the balance of payments recorded a deficit of 24,210 million euros, compared to 18,453 million euros in the period January-October 2023. In its structure, the balance of goods recorded a deficit higher by 3,706 million euros, the balance of services - a surplus lower by 1,690 million euros, the balance of primary income - a deficit higher by 793 million euros, and the balance of secondary income - a surplus higher by 432 million euros.

• December 17

- The financial rating agency Fitch Ratings revises the outlook for Romania's rating from "stable" to "negative", but confirmed our country's long-term foreign currency rating at "BBB-".

• December 20

- The new Parliament is formed, and Klaus Iohannis appoints Marcel Ciolacu as prime minister in charge of forming the new government.

- The dollar - at its highest rate of the month against our currency: 4.7908 lei, according to the National Bank of Romania.

• December 23

- The Ciolacu 2nd Government passes the Parliament's vote and takes the oath of office. The composition of the new Government is as follows: Marcel Ciolacu - Prime Minister; Radu Marinescu - Minister of Justice; Sorin Grindeanu - Minister of Transport; Alexandru Rafila - Minister of Health; Angel Tîlvăr - Minister of Defense; Natalia Intotero - Minister of Culture; Florin Barbu - Minister of Agriculture; Simona Bucura Oprescu - Minister of Labor and Family; Bogdan Ivan - Minister of Economy and Digitalization; Cătălin Predoiu - Minister of Internal Affairs; Sebastian Burduja - Minister of Energy; Emil Hurezeanu - Minister of Foreign Affairs; Daniel David - Minister of Education; Marcel Boloş - Minister of European Funds; Mircea Fechet - Minister of Environment; Tanczos Barna - Minister of Finance; Cseke Attila - Minister of Development.

• December 27

- The National Bank of Romania announces that broad money supply (M3) recorded, at the end of November 2024, a balance of 720,942.4 million lei. This increased by 2% (1.6% in real terms) compared to October 2024, and compared to November 2023 it increased by 11.2% (5.8% in real terms).

• December 30

- The Government adopts the "Trenuleţ" ordinance, which introduces a set of measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit, supporting public investments and optimizing the functioning of the state by reducing excessive spending.

• December 31

- The Ministry of Finance announces that, in the first 11 months of 2024, the budget deficit was 125.72 billion lei (7.12% of GDP), compared to 73.55 billion lei (4.58% of GDP) in the period January - November 2023.

- The Swiss franc exchange rate reaches the lowest level of the month against our currency: 5.2806 lei, according to the NBR.

- The BET index, of the 20 most liquid securities on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), rose by 2.3% in December, to 16,721 points, while BET-BK, the benchmark for the return of equity investment funds, appreciated by 4.1%, to 3,139 points. The developments were influenced, first of all, by the Constitutional Court's annulment of the first round of the presidential elections.

- The shares of the freight forwarder Transport Trade Services (+11.9%), those of the construction materials producer TeraPlast (+10.8%) and of Sphera Franchise Group (+8.3%), a company that operates public catering chains, had the best developments in the BET index in December.

- The BET-NG index, of energy and utilities companies, appreciated by 2% in December.

- The shares of Hidroelectrica increased by 2.2%, those of Nuclearelectrica - by 3.6%.

- The shares of Electrica rose by 7%, those of Transelectrica - by 1.7%.

- The shares of the natural gas transporter Transgaz appreciated by 6.3%.

- Banca Transilvania shares, which are in the process of integrating OTP Bank Romania, appreciated by 2.3% in December, while BRD shares rose by 3.7%.

- The BET-FI index, of former SIFs plus Fondul Proprietatea, increased by 4.19% in December, the highest appreciation among the BVB price return indices (which do not reflect dividends).

- FP shares, the issuer in which private pension funds liquidate their holdings, appreciated by 2.6% in December.