The recession persisted in Romania in the first quarter, so that
the Gross Domestic Product fell by 2.6% compared with the same time
of last year, which is less than the analysts’ 3.4% forecast;
however, other economies in the region are already on the
rebound.
The Czech Republic’s economy, for instance, progressed by 1.2%
compared with the first three months of 2009, while Hungary’s GDP
growth stood at 0.1%. Compared with the last quarter of 2009, the
Romanian economy went down by 0.3%, which is the best
quarter-on-quarter performance in the last eighteen months, the
preliminary data published by the National Statistics Institute
(INS) reveal.
This implicitly confirms IMF’s recent fears about a decline in
budget revenues, and the entire budget will now have to be adjusted
to the forecasts.
“Low domestic demand and a harsh winter led to these negative
results. On the other hand, high foreign demand from the euro zone
has driven the industry performance and reduced the extent of the
economic decline,” explains Eugen Sinca, an analyst with BCR’s
research department.
As a result, BCR has revised its 2010 growth forecast downwards,
from 1.9% to 0.2%.
ZF English
Economy drop not huge, but neighbouring countries already on the rebound
The recession persisted in Romania in the first quarter, so that the Gross Domestic Product fell by 2.6% compared with the same time of last year, which is less than the analysts’ 3.4% forecast; however, other economies in the region are already on the rebound.
