Gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 0.5% in real terms in the second quarter, the country’s statistics institute INS said in a second estimate. Compared with the same quarter of 2011, Romanian economy expanded by 1.2%. The figures are unchanged from last month’s estimate.
Output in professional, scientific and technical services sector increased at an annual rate of 6.1% in the second quarter of 2012, while construction activity rose 5.2% year-on-year, after a decline of 1.2% in the first three months.
The IT&C sector made a positive contribution of 1.9% to the second-quarter economic growth, while output in the real estate and industry sectors advanced 1.3% and 0.5% on the year, respectively.
“As a result of the overall positive economic evolution, tax collection improved in the second quarter, as net taxes on products grew at an annual pace of 3.8%,” INS said.
On the down side, the public administration, defense and other services sector continued its decline in the second quarter, falling at an annualized rate of 1.9% after a decrease of 5.8% a quarter earlier, the data showed.
The agriculture also made a negative contribution of 1.6% to the economic growth, while activity in financial and insurance and retail sectors inched down 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively.
Domestic demand advanced at an annual rate of 0.9% in the second quarter, supported by a 15.2% increase in gross capital formation. Final consumption rose 1.1% on the year, largely fueled by a 1.6% increase in household spending.
Exports inched up 0.7% on the year in the April-June period, while imports were up 0.2%, the data showed.
Romania expects economic growth will slow to 1.2% in 2012, from 2.5% a year earlier, largely due to falling activity in agriculture and a slowdown in exports.