The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has significantly revised its estimates for the growth of the Romanian economy this year, from 4.8% last autumn to 2.2% in its latest "World Economic Outlook" report published on Tuesday.According to the new IMF forecasts, the Romanian economy will slow down from 5.9% in 2021 to 2.2% in 2022, and speed up to 3.4% in 2023.The draft budget for 2022 is built on an economic growth forecast of 4.6%.By comparison, Bulgaria is expected to grow by 3.2%, while the economies of Hungary and Poland are expected to advance 3.7% in 2022.For Romania, the new revised IMF figures are slightly more optimistic than the World Bank's forecast, which in early April predicted that the economy would make a modest advance of 1.9% this year as a result of rising risks from the crisis in Ukraine. Also, in its February 10, 2022 forecasts, the European Commission estimated that the Romanian economic growth will slow down to 4.2% this year, and speed up in 2023 to 4.5%.In terms of inflation, the IMF has also significantly revised its estimates, predicting that Romania will witness an average annual price increase of 9.3% in 2022, two and a half times more than the 3.4% forecast last autumn. Price growth should slow down to 4% in 2023.About Romania's current account deficit, last autumn the IMF was expecting a deficit of 5.5% of GDP, while now it is predicting it to widen to 7% of GDP and slightly shrink in 2023 to 6.5% of GDP.In February 2022, Romania's National Economic Strategy and Forecast Board revised its GDP growth forecast to 4.3%, from 4.6% as previously estimated, taking into account the inflationary shock of the last quarter of 2021 and the wave five of the coronavirus pandemic.Romania's economy advanced 5.9% in 2021 from 2020.
Romania registered the third lowest employment rate in the EU in 2023, following Italy and Greece, according to recent Eurostat data. Only 69% of Romanians aged between 20 and 64 are employed, meaning nearly one-third of Romanians are not working. Certain factors influence these figures. Romania makes use of a category of special pensions applied […]
Authorities are looking into the case of a Romanian minor who was allegedly sold for RON 8,000 (EUR 1,600) and arrived in Germany with false documents. Romanian authorities were notified by those in Germany regarding the case, but investigations are still ongoing. The minor is currently in the care of the German state. The boy […]
The residential market had a strong start in 2024, with the first quarter ending with an 18% increase in the number of residential transactions in Bucharest compared to the same period last year, according to Colliers data. In the rest of the country, the increase was slightly higher - 19%. According to Colliers consultants, buying […]
Siemens Healthineers, the medical technology branch of the German multinational, recently launched its newest MRI scanner, the MAGNETOM Flow, during an event held in Bucharest on April 24. Featured in one of the panels during the event, Sonja Wehsely, executive vice president CEECA Siemens Healthineers, highlighted the strengths of the new scanner. Wehsely, who has […]
The Romanian General Prosecutor's Office officially announced the indictment of former president Ion Iliescu, former prime minister Petre Roman, and former deputy prime minister Gelu-Voican Voiculescu for crimes against humanity, in the case of the Mineriada (miners' riot) of June 1990. Along with the three, the former director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), Virgil […]
Uber launched its Green service in the popular mountain city of Brașov, in central Romania, on April 25, with a fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles such as Toyota Prius, Hyundai Ioniq, Tesla Model Y, and Volkswagen ID.3. Previously, the Uber Green option was made available to residents and tourists of Cluj-Napoca in November 2023. “We […]
