World Bank improves Romania’s growth estimate

Romania’s economy will grow by 4.4% this year, according to a report the World Bank published yesterday. The World Bank increased by 0.7 percentage points its previous estimate from January, when it expected a growth rate of 3.7%. It also revised up by 0.3 percentage points its estimate on Romania’s GDP growth in 2018 and 2019 to 3.7%, respectively 3.5%. Fiscal relaxation will contribute less to Romania's economy growth, but will put pressure on the public and external deficits, according to World Bank. Romania will meet its budget deficit target of 3% of the GDP this year, said the finance minister Viorel Stefan last month in an interview for Reuters. The country could also exceed the official estimated growth of 5.2%, he added. Romania saw a GDP growth of 5.7% in the first quarter of this year, due to consumption boost. It was the highest growth pace in the EU. editor@romania-insider.com