UniCredit expects Romania’s GDP growth to continue to slow down

The Romanian economy increased by 4.4% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. However, it grew by only 0.6% compared to the previous quarter, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS). The economy’s evolution was more modest in the third quarter compared to the growth pace of the previous two quarters, namely 1.5%. The data indicates that Romania is heading towards a slowdown of its economy growth, according to UniCredit Bank’s analysts, reports local Ziarul Financiar. The retail sales rose by 11.4% in year-on-year in the third quarter of 2016, compared to 17.1% in the second quarter. The growth in retail sales slowed down to less than 10% in September, as the stimuli for consumption have lost the momentum. The increase in industrial production reached 1.6% year-on-year in the third quarter of the year, compared to a growth of 2% year-on-year in the second quarter. The drop was related to the decline of the global trade. The activity in constructions saw a 1.7% decline in the third quarter over the same period of last year, compared to a 7.7% growth in the second quarter. UniCredit estimates that the private consumption and the retail sales will continue to slow down while the industrial activity will remain flat due to low external demand. Romania’s economic growth may thus go down to 3.4% in 2017. ING Bank revises down economic growth estimate for Romania, to 4.8% editor@romania-insider.com