ZF English

Economic prospects worsen again: 3% decline in 2010

06.07.2010, 23:12 13

Economic prospects for 2010 are deteriorating again midwaythrough the year, with the wave of flooding overlapping with theshock of the VAT raise and the cuts to public sector workers'wages, with businesspeople and analysts now revising theircalculations and anticipating a contraction of up to 3% in 2010,after everybody was expecting positive growth in spring.

Bad news does not, however, end here - something that nobodywanted to hear, that the recession would extend into 2011, seems ascenario increasingly less likely to avoid.
Nicolaie Alexandru-Chideşciuc, chief economist of ING, was thefirst analyst on the Romanian market to go public with a newforecast on Monday afternoon, anticipating a 3% contraction of theeconomy this year, and a 2.2% decline next year. At the beginningof the year he expected an almost 3% economic growth for2010.
Florian Libocor, chief economist of BRD-SocGen, is more optimistic,expecting this year's economic growth to range between -0.5% and0.5%. He says the economy will remain under strain, and thatrecovery in 2010 is out of the question.