Analyst sees Romanian economy remaining in recession in third quarter

Sectorial data for July, especially those for industrial production, indicate that Romania could record the third consecutive quarterly decline, which means that it will remain in technical recession, according to Andrei Radulescu, senior economist at Banca Transilvania. Romania entered technical recession in the second quarter, when it recorded the largest quarterly GDP decline in the EU, of 1% (compared to the previous quarter), according to Eurostat data. In the first quarter, Romania’s economy declined by 0.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. “We are in technical recession and probably we will remain in recession after the current quarter. The third quarter started very badly, so there’s a big chance it will continue to be on the minus compare to the previous one, but we only have the data for July so far,” said Radulescu. Romania’s industrial production increased by 2.7% in July compared to June, in gross terms, but according to seasonally adjusted data it decreased by 0.1%. Compared to July 2013, industrial production was up 5.7%, losing speed compared to the previous months. In June it had a 10.4% growth, compared to June 2013. Construction work index was down 1.7% in July compared to June and declined by almost 20% compared to July 2013. editor@romania-insider.com