Romanian Economy Not Out Of The Woods Yet - Fiscal Council

04.07.2011 By Florentina Dragu

The Romanian economy has stabilized, but the country is yet to emerge from its worst recession in over a decade, the parliament-appointed Fiscal Council said Thursday.

The Romanian economy has stabilized, but the country is yet to emerge from its worst recession in over a decade, the parliament-appointed Fiscal Council said Thursday.

"We can say with a high degree of probability that the economy has stabilized, but we don't know if the upward trend is confirmed. However, the economic recovery will be slow," said Ionut Dumitru, president of the Council.

Dumitru said the economy declined at a slower pace than estimated in 2010, but the recession was not over yet.

"It's hard to say if the 0.1% growth reported in the last quarter of 2010 will reflect into an upward trend," he added.

Romania's gross domestic product shrank 1.3% in 2010, from a 7.3% contraction in the previous year. The authorities had estimated an economic decline of 1.9% in 2010.

For 2011, the government forecasts an economic growth of 1.5%, broadly fueled by exports.

"A growth of 1.5% is small and it hardly influences the purchasing power. It will take another two to three years until the general population can feel any difference," Dumitru said.