Economy contracts by 1% in 2010, Fitch also announces

Fitch ratings agency forecasts the economy will slide by 1%
this year after having projected 2% growth in January and does not
expect a significant improvement in the sovereign rating in the
following period, stated Richard Hunter, managing director for EMEA
and Asia-Pacific with Fitch Ratings. Fitch analysts come to join a
long list of economists steadily revising their estimates on the
trend of the Romanian economy in 2010. The Government and the
National Forecast Commission are also on the list, with their
projections going from a 1.3% increase (in January), to a 0.5%
contraction at present. Richard Hunter specifies that more
important than the contraction estimate and the current rating
level is the fact that the country rating outlook was raised from
“negative” to “stable” at the beginning of the year. “I understand
from our analysts that the Government is working well within the
stand-by agreement, and developments are generally as stipulated in
the programme,” Hunter said.