“We maintain our economic forecast of 1.1% for 2013 and think that the risks stemming from a possible deterioration of foreign demand from the Italian market will be counterbalanced by better agricultural output compared to that from last year,” Erste said in its latest global strategy report.
Italy is the second-largest recipient of Romanian exports. In the first 11 months of 2012, local exports to the Mediterranean country reached EUR5.1 billion, down 5.4% year-on-year.
The Austrian bank estimates Romania’s economy will grow by 2.3% in 2014.