April 17 (SeeNews) - Romania's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to reach 5.1% in 2018 before it decelerates to 3.5% in 2019, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in the April edition of its World Economic Outlook (WEO) 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 2018.
Romania's GDP grew by a revised 6.9% last year, preliminary official data from the country's statistical office INS showed. Romania's consolidated budget deficit increased to 2.88% of the projected GDP last year, from 2.41% a year earlier.
The IMF's latest forecast for Romania's 2018 economic growth is below the government's projection of a 6.1% increase.
Romania's consumer prices are seen rising 4.7% year-on-year in 2018 and by 3.1% in 2019, the IMF said in the April edition of its WEO report. Romania's annual consumer price inflation quickened to 5% in March from 4.7% in February, INS said
Unemployment rate is projected to fall to 5% in 2017 from 4.6% in 2018 and 2019, according to the IMF forecast.
The country's current account deficit is expected to be flat to 3.7% of GDP projected in both 2019 and 2019, the IMF said. This compares with a current account gap of 3.5% of GDP in 2017, according to the IMF. Romania's current account balance showed a deficit of 172 million euro ($212 million) in the first two months of 2018, compared to a surplus of 72 million euro in the same period of last year.
In mid-March,the IMF said that although Romania's economy is growing strongly and the financial sector is improving, growth will turn increasingly fragile in the absence of policy changes.
"A combination of fiscal moderation and monetary tightening would be the best course of action. Monetary tightening alone would have to push interest rates to a level that weighs on investment and competitiveness," an IMF staff mission said in a statement at the end of its visit to the country.
(1 euro =4.6485 lei)