Romanian companies may put investments on hold due to fiscal uncertainties

Some 85% of the local business leaders who participated in a EY survey said the fiscal and legislative uncertainties in the past year have a negative impact on their companies’ investment plans. Only 13% of the respondents said their investments aren’t impacted by these factors. Moreover, nine in ten (92%) don’t support Romania’s current economic growth model based on boosting consumption. Most of the respondents, namely 45% are not confident about Romania’s economic evolution in the next 12 months. “The percentage of optimists has decreased compared to the previous editions of this survey, which shows that local business leaders are more worried about the consumption-based growth, inflation pressures and fiscal and legislative uncertainties,” according to the report. Some 458 business leaders participated in this survey. Romania’s economic growth reached 7% in 2017, to which consumption contributed by 6.4 percentage points while investments only contributed by 1.2 percentage points. Most forecasts for 2018 anticipate an economic growth rate under 5%. editor@romania-insider.com