Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta recently told Bloomberg that the economy had recorded a rise of 2.4% in the first half of the year against the similar period of last year.
Analysts are skeptical and say such “surprising” growth can be explained through new upward adjustments of previous statistical data, considering that the economy had a poorer performance in the second quarter than in the first three months of the year.
ING Bank says it expects economic growth of 1.8% in the first half of the year, similarly to most analysts.
Most available indicators show that economic activity slowed down in the second quarter of 2013 against the first quarter, whereas the 2.4% rise would suggest an “unexpected acceleration” of the economy to 1.5% in 2Q of 2013 from 0.6% in 1Q, explains Vlad Muscalu, senior economist at ING Bank.
The economy grew 2.2% in 1Q of this year against 1Q of last year, with the GDP rise being double that expected by analysts.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)