Economist: Romania may catch up with Western Europe in 20 years

Romanians could reach wages that are similar to countries in western Europe, such as France or Germany, in over 20 years, because the economic growth is neither fast enough nor quite sustainable to support a faster reduction of the gap, said Dan Bucsa, lead CEE economist of UniCredit Bank London. If Romania gets to a GDP per capita that represents 90% of the average EU GDP per capita, the country could also join the euro zone without facing the possibility to go through problems similar to those that Greece and Portugal had been experiencing, reports local Wall-street.ro. Romania’s GDP per capita is currently at about 60% of the GDP per capita at EU level, Bucsa added. However, Romania has made some significant progress since 2004, when its GDP per capita stood at little over 30% of the EU average. “How do we accelerate the pace? We need to focus on two things, investments and workforce,” the UniCredit Bank economist explained. The strongest growth is related to reforms, but, in reality, the idea that countries continue reforms after joining the EU is a utopia. “The only countries that make reforms, make them out of fear,” Bucsa said. editor@romania-insider.com