The European Commission (EC)'s estimate of Romania's economic decline of 6% in 2020 is too pessimistic if we look at what is happening in Romania today, Minister of Public Finance Florin Citu on Wednesday told a specialized conference, adding that he expects an improvement in the estimate.
According to him, there is an interesting dynamic, respectively a reduction in stocks, which reveals the fact that the economy did not grow on the basis of stocks, but through investments, and the stocks that were already made were used.
He admitted that the SME Invest program did not start very well and was a huge volume for the financial-banking system all of a sudden, which made it necessary to adjust the systems. Changes have been made in terms of guarantees, and now it has reached 11,000 companies that have taken loans and a volume of financing of 10 billion lei.
The finance minister said that all the measures taken at the level of the ministry he leads for the private sector amounted, until June 30, at 15 billion lei, which remained with the companies.
Romania's economy will register a significant decrease this year, of 6%, according to the economic forecasts from the summer of 2020, published on Tuesday by the European Commission, a level similar to the one forecast in May by the Community Executive.
For 2021, the EC estimates Romania's GDP advance at 4%, compared to a 4.2% increase forecast in May.