A prime minister is designated as Fitch warns on the rating
President Nicușor Dan designated Siegfried Mureșan as prime minister on 17 September. A day later a Fitch analyst said a long political crisis could cost Romania its investment-grade rating. Eurostat put August HICP inflation at 6.3%, the highest in the EU, and July industrial production 6.3% below a year earlier. Three investments were recorded: two in ammunition production and one in battery storage.
A prime minister is designated; Fitch warns
President Nicușor Dan designated Siegfried Mureșan, a member of the European Parliament, as prime minister on 17 September. The Constitution gives him ten days, until 27 September, to ask Parliament for a vote of confidence in his programme and full cabinet.
The next day Malgorzata Krzywicka, a Fitch analyst, said Romania's rating could fall below investment grade if the political crisis drags on. She put the further deficit correction needed to stabilise debt at about 1.5% of GDP. This was a comment, not a rating action. Fitch's next scheduled review of Romania is in January 2027.
Eurostat: prices, industry, construction, labour costs
HICP inflation, the EU-harmonised measure, was 6.3% in August, down from 8.2% in July, Eurostat confirmed on 17 September. It was the highest rate in the EU, where the average was 3.2%.
Industrial production in July was 6.3% lower than a year earlier, calendar adjusted, and 1.4% lower than in June (Eurostat, 16 September). Only Bulgaria had a larger annual fall; EU output rose 0.3%. Construction output was 1.8% higher than a year earlier (Eurostat, 18 September), while the EU's fell 1.8%.
Hourly labour costs rose 1.8% on the year in the second quarter, against 3.2% in the EU and 9.9% in Bulgaria (Eurostat, 16 September).
The BNR reference rate reached 5.2644 lei per euro on 18 September, the highest since 7 May.
Balance of payments, January to July
The current account deficit was €16.29 billion in the first seven months, against €15.71 billion a year earlier, according to BNR data published on 15 September. Direct investment by non-residents was €1.13 billion, against €4.92 billion in the same months of 2025.
Investments
Two contracts add NATO-standard ammunition capacity at state-owned plants: 155 mm shells at UM Sadu, with an American investor, and 12.7 mm components at UM Cugir. Nofar's contract adds 1.09 GWh of battery storage to two solar parks due in 2027.
No rating action, BNR decision, or EDP, tax, budget or PNRR step fell in the week.
US Ballistic signs to invest $25 million in 155 mm ammunition production at UM Sadu
US Ballistic, an American company, signed a contract on 15 September in Târgu Jiu with Uzina Mecanică Sadu, a state-owned plant, to produce NATO-standard 155 mm artillery ammunition there, interim Defence Minister Radu Miruță announced. The company is to invest $25 million over five years, including in warehouses, roads and utility networks that remain the property of UM Sadu, and to hire about 150 people in the first two years. According to the minister, UM Sadu will also receive about €20 million in rent over ten years.
UM Cugir signs €54 million contract for 12.7 mm ammunition equipment
Uzina Mecanică Cugir, a state-owned arms maker, signed a €54 million contract on 11 September for special equipment to produce NATO-standard 12.7 x 99 mm ammunition components. Three bids were received, one from Belgium and two from Turkey; the winner was not named. The contract is part of a modernisation programme the company values at 552.9 million lei, funded by state support and its own money. The programme also covers 5.56 x 45 mm ammunition capacity, due in November 2026, and a hall upgrade due in December 2026.
Nofar Energy to spend €103 million on battery storage at two Romanian solar parks
Nofar Energy, an Israeli developer, said on 15 September that it had signed an agreement with an international supplier for battery storage systems totalling 1.09 GWh at two solar projects it is building in Romania, for about €103 million. Valter Mărăcineanu (178 MW of solar) gets 650 MWh of storage for about €57 million, and Corbii Mari (282 MW) gets 440 MWh for about €46 million. Equipment deliveries are due to start in 2027, and both solar projects are due to be completed in the third quarter of 2027.
Next week
Nothing on the release calendar for 21 to 27 September. The prime minister-designate's deadline to ask Parliament for a confidence vote is 27 September.
S&P is reported to review Romania's rating on 2 October. The next scheduled items are the BNR rate decision on 8 October, INS average earnings for August on 12 October and national CPI for September on 13 October.
Which figure the site shows
National CPI and HICP are different measures. The site's HICP chart now runs to August (6.3%); national CPI for August, from INS, is 6.17%.
The labour cost figure above is Eurostat's hourly labour cost index. It is not the site's unit labour cost series, which relates pay to output and rose 1.4% in the second quarter.
The site's current account and foreign investment charts are quarterly shares of GDP and still end at the first quarter. The seven-month totals above come from the BNR's monthly balance of payments.
Information, not investment advice. Figures are as published by the named sources on the dates shown.