Romania’s economy grows 6.5% in first quarter, but pace may not last

Romania’s economy posted a surprising 6.5% growth rate in the first quarter, but economists predict a significant slowdown for the rest of the year, euractiv.com reads.

Romania’s GDP grew 6.5% in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period of 2021, the statistics institute said in a flash estimate Tuesday (17 May).

Against the previous quarter, the GDP growth was 5.2%, coming after a considerably lower advance in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The statistics institute revised previous data so that a small contraction of 0.1% in the last quarter of 2021 compared with the previous three-month period became a growth of 1%.

The data is still preliminary, and more detailed figures on the first-quarter GDP will be released in June.

Romania’s government initially estimated economic growth above 4% for the full year, but its forecast has since been reduced to less than 3%.

The European Commission has recently said Romania’s economy would grow by 2.6% in 2022, down from 5.9% in 2021, as high inflation will reduce purchasing power and private consumption, while economic sentiment is affected by the war in Ukraine.

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