April 28 (SeeNews) - Most company managers in Romania's services sector expect their business to shrink in the next three months, while growth is forecast in construction, retail and manufacturing, the National Statistical Office (INS) said on Wednesday.
Demand for services is expected to slow down in the next three months, showing a negative balance of 6%, INS said in a monthly business sentiment survey.
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The balance is calculated as the difference between the percentage of respondents who expect positive developments and the percentage of those whose expectations are negative.
Also, relative stability is forecast in the number of employees in the services sector. According to the interviewed managers in the sector, service prices will be stable in the following three months, as a positive balance of 3% is registered.
The managers of construction companies expect a rise in the production volumes of their business in the next three months, as the balance here is a positive 28%. Further on, they expect a moderate rise in the number of employees in the construction sector and an increase in the prices of construction works, with positive balances of 9% and 20%, respectively.
The managers of retail companies expect an increase in economic activity in the next three months, with a positive balance of 16%.
The volume of orders placed by trade units to the suppliers of goods will increase, with a positive balance of 12%. Employers forecast a moderate rise in the number of employees in the next three months, with a positive balance of 11%. The managers expect that retail prices will rise in the following three months, with a positive balance of 29%.
The managers of companies operating in the manufacturing industry expect production volumes to rise moderately in the following three months, with a positive balance of 10%. Regarding the number of employees, a relative stability is expected, with a negative balance of 1%, while prices of industrial products are expected to moderately increase in the following three months, with a positive balance of 13%.
A strong increase is forecast for the manufacturing of beverages with positive balance of 40%. For the manufacturing of clothing, a drop is expected in the following three months, with a negative balance of 17%.
A total of 8,987 managers of Romanian-based companies in construction, manufacturing, retail and services were interviewed in the survey.