Romania must follow the example of other European countries that are implementing support programs for the business community in order to overcome the current crisis, and support Romanian companies, says Chairman of SME Romania Florin Jianu.
The impact of the increase in prices in the economy on SMEs is significant, as they face significant increases in production costs, including raw materials, utilities and salaries, which directly affect profitability.
"The ongoing crisis shows the need to implement support measures in the essential sectors for the Romanian economy, especially for the development of the petrochemical industry and the production of fertilisers for agriculture, given the impact on agricultural producers by the increase in fuel prices and the cessation of fertiliser imports from the Persian Gulf area, in conjunction with the elimination of the natural gas price cap from April 1, 2026 for enterprises. Romania must follow the example of other European countries that are implementing support programmes for their business communities in order to overcome the current crisis and support Romanian companies," said Jianu.
SME Romania officials say that, in many cases, the increases cannot be fully transferred in costs to consumers, in order not to lose customers, which leads to the compression of profit margins, while decreasing purchasing power of the population triggers a reduction in demand for goods and services.
"Commerce is experiencing changes in consumer behaviour towards cheaper products, services are affected by the decrease in demand, and the industrial sector is strongly hit not only by wage increases, but also by the increase in energy and raw material costs.
Cash flows are disrupted by rising costs and revenue volatility, putting additional pressure on all economic agents."
In conclusion, the high inflation in Q1 2026 as against Q1 2025, highlights significant economic pressures on SMEs. Although there is a stabilisation compared to the previous quarter, the high level of inflation continues to negatively affect the business environment. According to SME Romania.
SMEs tend to postpone investment and expansion plans, focusing instead on survival and cost optimisation.
"Government's intervention in support of the business operators affected by the increase in energy and fuel prices against the background of the situation in the East must not be delayed, otherwise all efforts to control the economic crisis, with tax increases and decreases in tax benefits borne in the previous year, will be cancelled by new price increases and inflation that tends towards a double-digit figure."
Data published by Romania's National Institute of Statistics show that the annual inflation rate was 9.9% in March 2026, as against March 2025's 4.9%, which indicates that inflation practically doubled in the last year. Strong inflationary pressures are generated by the increase in the costs of energy, raw materials and labour, and previous price increases continue to propagate in the economy, notes IMM Romania.
A new increase in the Consumer Price Index is observed in March 2026 as against February 2026 to 100.78% (100.27% in March 2025 from February 2025), as well as on each product category (100.58% for foods, 101.00% for non-foods 100.60% for services).
The most significant price increases in March 2026 year-on-year were reported in food products: cocoa and coffee - 23.91%; eggs - 14.63%; fresh fruit - 14.23%; beef - 11.47%; bread, bakery products and related specialties - 9.83%.
Also, prices increased for non-foods electricity - 57.2%; rail interurban transport - 24.4%; district heating - 13.41%; fuels - 12.93% and detergents - 9.89%.
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