BCR: Romania’s economy to increase by 6.1% this year

Romania’s largest lender BCR, part of the Austrian group Erste, has revised upwards its estimate on the country’s GDP growth to 6.1% for this year. It is its third positive revision since June, after previous estimates of 5.5% in August, 5.1% in June and 4.3% previously. The bank’s economists have revised upwards the GDP growth as the agricultural output has exceeded expectations, reports local Profit.ro. The record agricultural production of the autumn-winter season will contribute 0.4 percentage points to the country’s GDP growth in 2017, according to BCR. The bank estimates that the economy will not keep up the same pace next year. The Government is hard-pressed on the deficit side to raise more money to the budget, which means either reducing expenses or higher taxes. The GDP growth will slow down to 4.1% next year, according to the BCR scenario. Romania’s Finance Ministry has recently announced a new measure for next year, the 2% solidarity tax applied to the salary fund. Romania’s “blistering” growth story reaches New York Times front page editor@romania-insider.com