Romania Economic Growth Slows Down In Second Quarter

08.14.2015 By Bogdan Neagu

Romania’s economic growth slowed down in the second quarter, with a first reading of the gross domestic product data coming much lower than analyst expectations.

The country’s GDP rose 3.2% against the same quarter of last year, while many economists predicted a growth close to 4.5% or even 5%, after a strong output in the first quarter.

In seasonally adjusted data, the GDP growth was up just 0.1% against the previous quarter, a marked slowdown from a revised 1.4% in January-March. Compared with the second quarter of 2014, Romania’s GDP was up 3.7% in adjusted data, a flash estimate from the statistics institute INS showed Friday.

In the first half, Romania’s economy grew 3.7% (3.8% in seasonally adjusted data) against the same period of 2014.

Analysts were expecting growth of near 4.5% for the first half, after the 4.3% rise in the first quarter, fueled by increased domestic consumption.

As signals from the construction and retail sectors were positive during the first six months, it seems the slowdown in the manufacturing industry may be worse than expected.

The statistics office will provide breakdown of GDP data on September 4.