February 28 (SeeNews) - Company managers in Romania expect an improvement in manufacturing, construction and services in March and April, but see a drop in retail, the National Statistical Office (INS) said on Tuesday.
Managers from the manufacturing sector expect an increase of 12% in production volumes. The production of vehicles is seen up 38% during March and April, while for computers, electronics and optic devices a drop of 7% is forecast, INS said in a monthly business sentiment survey.
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Regarding the number of employees, relative stability is forecast. For industrial products' prices in the manufacturing sector, managers see a moderate increase of 6% in the next two months.
After four consecutive months of pessimism regarding construction activities, managers now expect a 13% rise in production volumes. Managers also expect a relative stability of the number of employees and a 7% rise in prices of construction works.
Sales in services are expected to grow by 7% during the next two months. The number of employees and sales prices are also expected to be relatively stable, according to the survey.
The managers of retail companies are the only ones that expect economic activity to decline over the next two months, by 17%. Business sentiment regarding retail activities has been predominantly negative in 2016 and in the beginning of 2017.
The volume of orders is expected to decrease by 19%, while the number of employees is expected to fall by 14%. The managers also expect a 13% rise of retail prices.
A total of 8,216 managers of Romanian-based companies from construction, manufacturing, retail, and services were interviewed in the survey.