Corruption cuts budgetary revenues by 15%

According to the World Bank Director for Central and Southern Europe, Andrew Vorkink, the Romanian economy is recovering and a 4% GDP growth is likely to be attained this year. The World Bank is concerned with cutting the unemployment rate and the inflation level in Romania.

It is also interested in a sustainable economic growth to be reached over the next period, Vorkink said. The World Bank official estimated that the economic growth would have reached 3% last year if the drought had not affected the economy. Adrian Nastase-led Government estimates 4-4.5% economic growth for this year.

Several projects worth one billion dollars and financed by the World Bank are ongoing in Romania, but 570 million dollars have not been used yet, said the official of the international financial institution.

Andrew Vorkink made the estimate regarding economic growth in spite of Adrian Nastase’s announcement that corruption cut budgetary revenues by 15% in Romania, according to a World Bank survey.

The Executive head added that the World Bank survey pointed out this phenomenon was spreading in Romania. The poll was drawn among public officers, private persons and private entrepreneurs.

According to the survey’s results, MPs decision to vote certain laws that support private interests, National Bank failures, high-level corrupt practices, private contributions to parties electoral campaigns and bribe given to public officers in order to avoid tax payment largely harm the business environment.

Therefore, Nastase announced that, starting next week, the Government and a World Bank team would assess the solutions to stop “the increasing corruption process that undermines Romania’s political, economic and psychological interests.”