April 6 (SeeNews) - Romania's economy will grow by 6% this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday, increasing its forecast for a 4.6% growth made in October.
In 2022, the IMF expects Romania's economy to grow by 4.8%, the Fund said in the April edition of its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.
Romania's economy contracted by 3.9% in 2020, the IMF estimated.
Romania's current account deficit is forecast to fall to 5% of GDP in 2021, from 5.1% in 2020. In 2022, the current account gap is seen narrowing to 4.7%, according to the report.
Consumer price inflation is seen quickening to 2.8% in 2021 from 2.6% in 2020. In 2022, the IMF sees inflation slowing to 2.1%.
Unemployment in Romania is projected to edge down to 4.9% at the end of 2021, from 5% in 2020. In 2022, the unemployment rate is projected to remain at 4.9%.
The IMF also said it expects the GDP of Emerging and Developing Europe area comprising Romania, Russia, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia to grow by 4.4% in 2021 and by 3,9% in 2022.
Romania's government is targeting 4.3% economic growth in 2021.
At the end of March, the World Bank said that it expects Romania's economic output to increase by 4.3% this year, improving its January forecast by 0.8 percentage points. For 2022, the World Bank expects Romania's GDP to expand by 4.1%.