April 9 (SeeNews) - Romania's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to reach 3.1% in 2019 before slowing to 3% in 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in the April edition of its World Economic Outlook report released on Tuesday.
In its previous WEO report published in October, the IMF said it expected Romania's economy to expand by a real 3.4% in 2019. For 2018, IMF estimates that Romania's economy has grown by 4.1%, up from 4.0% projected in October.
The IMF's April forecast for Romania's 2019 economic growth is well below the government's projection of a 5.5% increase.
"For other economies in the region with robust growth rates in recent years, such as Poland and Romania, growth is expected to moderate to about 3 percent over the medium term, reflecting the fading of stimulus from EU investment funds and accommodative policies," IMF said.
Romania's consumer prices are expected to rise 3.3% year-on-year in 2019 and by 3% in 2020, the IMF said. The country's annual consumer price inflation accelerated to 3.8% in February, from 3.3% in the previous month, according to the national statistical office. In February, Romania's central bank raised its annual inflation forecast for 2019 to 3% from 2.9%, within its target band of 1.5-3.5%.
Unemployment rate is projected to rise from 4.8% in 2019 to 4.9% in 2020, according to the IMF forecast.
The country's current account deficit is expected to drop to rise to 5.2% of GDP projected in 2019 and to 4.8% of GDP projected in 2020, the IMF said. This compares with a current account gap of 4.6% of GDP in 2018, according to the IMF.
In January 2019 only, Romania's current account balance showed a deficit of 114 million euro ($129 million), compared to a gap of 7 million euro in the same month of last year.
Romania's current account balance showed a deficit of 9.416 billion euro in 2018, compared to a gap of 5.970 billion euro a year earlier.
($=0.887 euro)