Romania's economy was down 0.1 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous, and thus returned to recession, as this is the second consecutive quarter of GDP decline for the country. The contraction this time was lower. In the last quarter of 2011, Romania's economy dropped by 0.2 to 0.3 percent.

Data from the country's Statistics Institute also show the situation slightly rosier when compared to the first quarter of 2011 – an increase of 0.3 percent in the raw series and of 0.8 percent when seasonally adjusted.

These are the first estimations for Romania's economy in the first three quarters of the year, but the Statistics Institute will announce the interim data on June 6.

Analysts have been expecting the technical recession in the first quarter, even though the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s estimates for the full year pointed to an economic increase of 1.5 percent for 2012.

Romania's economy went up by 2.5 percent last year, after being in technical recession between 2008 and 2011. Technical recession occurs when a country's economy shrinks for two quarters in a row, compared to the previous quarter.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)