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Not being a member of the eurozone appears to have helped Romania recover from the economic crisis faster than its western partners.
România Internațional, 16.10.2014, 14:09
Six years after the outbreak of the economic crisis, the global economy is still convalescing. The head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde recently warned that economic recovery is “uneven”. While the United States and Britain appear to have overcome the crisis, economic growth is still weak in the eurozone countries, which face a 40% chance of sliding into recession. Christine Lagarde based her prediction of the contraction of the Italian economy to 0.2%, France’s insignificant 0.4% growth rate and the weakening of the German economy, which has been the driving engine of the eurozone and whose growth rate only reached 1.4% in 2014.
The International Monetary Fund has urged European banks to revise their business model fundamentally, as they are at the moment unable to support economic recovery. Speaking of banks, there have also been rumours about the pullout of some major international banks from Romania, but, fortunately, they haven’t been confirmed. Under the circumstances, banks are reticent about giving loans, something the president of the Romanian Banks Association Radu Gratian Ghetea has admitted:
Cristian Ghetea: “Our main goal as banks is not economic recovery as such but finding clients who need our loans. So we are interested in giving credits, because this is how we can justify our existence. Unfortunately, the situation is complicated at the moment.”
The economy minister Constantin Nita says Romania needs a 5% annual growth rate to join the ranks of advanced economies, instead of its current 2-3%.
Constantin Nita: “For the time being, I don’t think our growth rate can exceed 2 or 3%. The economic context is not favourable. Things may change, however, in the future. Secondly, we won’t achieve a high level of performance and boost exports with 40 or 50 year-old equipment.”
The good news is that Romanian exports may this year exceed 50 billion euros after last year’s 49 billion. Moreover, direct foreign investment grew by 27% in the first 8 months of the year compared to the similar period of 2013, exceeding 1.4 billion euros according to the National Bank of Romania.
