Traian Băsescu on Romania's exit from recession: first quarter, first half, second half of 2011

President Traian Băsescu was undecided yesterday as to when Romania will step out of recession: he talked about the first quarter, the first half and the second half of 2011.
President Băsescu yesterday talked about his conviction that the exit from the recession would occur in 2011, but over the course of the conference he generated confusion as to when exactly the economy would go into positive territory: the first quarter, the first half or the second half of the year.
“We will step out of recession in the first quarter of 2011, in the first half. My conviction is that we will see growth in the second quarter of next year,” the President yesterday told a news conference at the Cotroceni Palace.
This time last year, both President Băsescu and Premier Boc said the same thing about this year, but ultimately the government had to resort to extreme measures – cutting salaries and raising VAT – because budget revenues did not meet forecasts.
Asked by Ziarul Financiar who would be responsible if the same happened in 2011, he said:
“Political responsibility lies with all of us who did not foresee the crisis and who did not take measures in due course. At the beginning of 2009 we built the budget on a rise, but we saw a decline. I am trying to be realistic, but no one can say for certain whether there will be an increase or a decline next year. Any budget is an estimate, budget execution is a different matter,” Băsescu said.