June 23 (SeeNews) - Romania's economy will grow by close to 7% in 2021 on the back of government policies which are stimulating investment, prime minister Florin Citu said.
"The numbers look good, we have upward investment dynamics, which means that in Romania employers, entrepreneurs and companies are optimistic about the economy and are creating additional production capacities. My estimation is that this year we will have economic growth of almost 7%," Florin Citu said on Tuesday evening during a talk-show broadcast by Romanian public television TVR1.
According to Citu, the country's liberal government switched to an investment-oriented policy from a previous unproductive spending policy, and the results will be reflected in the economic growth data.
The prime minister also noted that Romanians' purchasing power has increased significantly, referring to a recent Eurostat report which showed that Romania is ahead of Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary on that matter.
In April, Romanian finance ministry analysts said that the country's economic output will grow by an estimated 5% this year, revising their previous forecast for 4.3% growth. In 2021, Romania's economy will be boosted by a 4.3% year-on-year rise in final household consumption, the National Prognosis Commission (CNP), an analyst unit within the finance ministry, said at the time.
The country's economy contracted by 0.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021, compared to a 2.4% annual growth in the like quarter of 2020, the most recent data from the national statistical board showed.
Last year, Romania's economic output shrank by 3.9%, compared to a 4.1% expansion in 2019.
Earlier this month, the World Bank said that Romania's gross domestic product is expected to grow by 6% this year, improving its January forecast by 2.5 percentage points.
At the end of May, the International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for Romania's economic growth in 2021 to 7% from 6% predicted in April and advised the government to restart structural and governance reforms.
Also in May, the European Commission estimated that Romania’s economy will expand by a real 5.1% in 2021, as compared to 3.8% growth projected in February.
(1 euro=4.9259 euro)