Kazakhstan this year climbed onto the 3rd position among the countries Romania registered a trade deficit with, a situation generated by the imports of crude oil worth almost 600m euros through KazMunaiGaz, the company that bought Rompetrol last year.
Romania's trade deficit in the first quarter of this year followed a trend analysts see as positive, given exports' faster growth against imports. With a lower share in GDP, 20.6% in Q1, 2008, and a much smaller growth rate compared with last year also due to RON decline, the trade deficit is expected to stabilise this year.
Germany, Russia and Kazakhstan posted a trade deficit accounting for 43% in the overall 4.3bn euros Romania registered in the first quarter of 2008, 11% higher than in the same period of 2007, according to the data published by the National Statistics Institute (INS).
"As regards the major deficit with Russia and Kazakhstan, I don't believe Romania has a solution because Russia is the only gas supplier and Kazakhstan exports crude oil to us after taking over Rompetrol.
"The crude oil is processed at Midia and then exported in form of other products that are harder to identify in the export structure. Despite the apparently high weight of the deficit with Kazakhstan, the imported raw materials are subsequently exported and this generates revenues to the state budget through tax payments," explains Valentin Brebenel, an advisor with the Foreign Trade Department.
In the first quarter, Germany's exports to Romania were 842m euros bigger than its imports, leading in the ranking of countries generating trade deficit. " (...)To cut down the deficit, we must count on rising exports to Germany, as imports cannot be restricted on the free EU market (...)," says Brebenel. Still, Romania's trade deficit with Germany rose by 19% in the first three months of this year.
Number one in terms of trade deficit increases is the new entry, Kazakhstan, with a 150% bigger trade deficit.
The value of imports in the first three months of this year reached 12.9bn euros, up 12% from the same quarter of 2007.
Imports from the EU rose by 10% in euros, weighing 70% in overall imports. The top five partner countries were Germany (16.8%), Italy (11.6%), Hungary (6.7%), Russia (6.4%) and France (6.3%).
The value of exports in the first three months of this year got close to 8bn euros, 14% more than in the first quarter of 2007.
Exports to the EU went up by 11% in euros, weighing 71% in the total. The top five partner countries were Germany (16.5%), Italy (16.3%), Turkey (7.9%), France (7.7%) and Hungary (5.3%).
"At any rate, the rate of imports is smaller than the rate of exports, pointing to a trade deficit decrease in the future.
"Exports did rise, but they cannot overshoot imports because purchasing power has also risen in Romania," say Trade Ministry representatives.
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