“A growth of 1.8% is a realistic estimate. We don’t rule out an economic increase of up to 2.5%, provided Romania reports a good absorption rate for European funds and a very good harvest,” said Eugen Sinca, chief-economist at BCR.
Speaking at a news conference, Sinca said BCR expects farm output to grow by 10% year-on-year in 2013, while exports to non-EU countries are estimated to increase by some 20%.
The BCR analyst said Romania will likely grow at the fourth-fastest pace in the European Union in 2013, after Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
“Romania has a high potential to attract foreign capital this year. Alongside the Baltic countries, Romania has a good chance to exit the EU’s excessive deficit procedure; therefore, we expect to see more foreign capital inflows,” Sinca said.
The European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said last week that Romania, Latvia and Lithuania are “evident candidates” to exit the excessive deficit procedure, after successfully reducing their budget gaps to below 3% of the gross domestic product.
Romania joined the list of EU countries with excessive deficits in 2009 and was given until December 2012 to lower its deficit.