CEROPE: We will match the European GDP in the next 30 years

Romania could reach the European average in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in the next 20-30 years if the average annual economic growth rate stands at around 6 to 7% and the European Union’s growth rate does not exceed 2 to 3%, shows a study of the Romanian Centre for Economic Policies (CEROPE) conducted for the National Forecast Commission (CNP). In 2005, Romania calculated a GDP according to the purchasing parity (based on the average basket of goods), of around 8,166 dollars per capita, which is less than a third of the EU average, i.e. 26,900 dollars. “Narrowing the gaps against the EU and reducing the regional discrepancies are dependent on a faster speed of the economic growth and on balancing the growth factors (…), first of all by increasing the contribution of the gross capital formation, helped by domestic savings and EU transfers,” the CEROPE study shows.