The Washington-based institution also cut its estimate on the 2013 growth to 3%, from 4% initially, according to a report on global economic prospects released Tuesday.
Romania’s current account deficit is poised to widen slightly to 4.7% of the gross domestic product in 2012, from a gap of 4.5% of GDP estimated in the previous year. For 2013, the World Bank estimates a deficit of 5.3% of GDP.
The World Bank forecasts an economic growth of 3.2% in the Central and Eastern Europe region in 2012, down from 4.2% previously estimated.
The economies in Europe and Central Asia are likely to be “particularly affected” by weaker activity in the European Union, which buys more than half the region’s exports, the World Bank said.
“The countries most likely to suffer from a sharp downturn in EU demand include Romania, Lithuania and Latvia because of their large exposure to Europe in general, and Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria because they rely particularly on the high-spread European economies that are likely to be hardest hit,” the report noted.