Energy consumption is down again

Energy consumption, considered to be an immediate barometer of a country’s economy, fell by 11.3% compared with the same time last year, after in July it had recorded a slightly lower decline, according to data from Transelectrica, the national power grid company. As opposed to the trend of other economic indicators, which take longer to reflect the economy, the progression of energy consumption can be checked daily on the Transelectrica website. Even President Traian Basescu said last week that, after he had “burnt his fingers” with economists’ analyses, he now calls the Minister of Economy, Adriean Videanu on a weekly basis, in order to find out how energy consumption is going. “(…) I burnt my fingers badly with economists’ analyses. So I call Videanu on a weekly basis to get an account of energy consumption. I don’t want economic analyses any more and I realise that the third quarter will also show signs of a reduction in negative growth, but, under no circumstances will it see a return to growth,” specified Basescu at the end of last week.