Foreign companies voice optimism, estimate growth

The international companies operating in Romania have noticed a slight improvement in their economic activity in the second quarter this year and forecast a similar evolution for the July-September interval, according to the barometer released by KPMG Romania.

KPMG conducts the survey every three months, with the respondents comprising 80 international companies activating on the Romanian market.

Half of the participants have shown their activity picked up in the second quarter, whereas eleven percent reported a deteriorating situation and 39 percent said the evolution maintained the same course.

As for the third quarter, there were no negative forecasts, as 48 percent of the companies predicted things would get better and 52 percent saw no change.

Also, managers deemed their financial situation as positive, with the trend to continue in the third quarter. None of the companies anticipated any deterioration in their finances. Thus, 57 percent of the managers estimated their financial situation would remain the same, with 43 percent estimating growth for this indicator.

At the same time, more managers estimate the investment volume will drop (up to 13 percent from 12 percent), whereas only 39 percent feel the level of investments will actually increase.

As for the number of employees, 17 percent of the companies (up eight percent since the second quarter) have said they will have to resort to layoffs.