Study: Romanians, slightly more optimistic about revenues, but avoid major long term purchases as they fear job loss, higher inflation

Romanians have become slightly more optimistic about their revenues and about the country’s economic perspective than they were a year ago, according to a recent barometer survey by GfK. The measured index is now at minus 37, compared to minus 40 a year ago. Less than half of Romanians – 49 percent believe their family's financial situation is worse than in 2012, compared to the 58 percent recorded last year. Only 12 percent said they live better than they did in April 2012. Even if two-thirds of Romanians still think the country's economy is not going well, this is still eight percentage points below the result in the 2012 barometer. This year, 13 percent have hope for an economic comeback. But eight out of ten Romanians think the period is not favorable to saving money, so this impacts their intention to buy long term use goods. Only 3 percent plan to buy or build a house in the coming period, and only 6 percent to buy a car, which are among the lowest results on these indicators in the barometer so far. "The steep decrease in appetite for major investments showcased by the barometer confirms other results from our studies, showing Romanians invest less and less in long term use goods, especially in electronic and household items. Add to this people's fears of price increase and lack of trust in their job stability,” said Andi Dumitrescu, general manager of GfK România. Romanians are not optimistic when it comes to inflation, and eight out of ten believe prices were higher in the last 12 months than in the previous period, and three quarters think prices will further increase in 2013. They also lack trust in their job stability, with 68 percent believing unemployment will grow this year. The GfK study was conducted on 1,000 people interviewed every month and are valid for April 2013. editor@romania-insider.com