Opinion Poll: 77% of Romanians Expect an Economic Downturn this Year

77% of Romanians expect an economic downturn in 2022 because of the rising prices that have affected Romania lately.

Romanians do not believe their current political leaders are well prepared to deal with the crisis. According to the opinion poll conducted by Avangarde at G4Media’s request, only 14% believe the National Liberal Party leader Nicolae Ciuca is prepared to face the crisis, 13% think that Marcel Ciolacu (Social Democratic Party) is, 3% consider Cătălin Drulă (USR) knows what to do in the months ahead, and 2% think George Simion (Alliance of the Union of Romanians) is the one to get Romania out of any economic danger.

Not surprisingly, 38% believe that no politician is prepared to deal with a crisis. Despite the rise in fuel prices, 27% say they drive the same automobile, while 20% say they drive less.

Survey results

Asked if Romania will confront an economic crisis in 2022, only 3% of those polled do not believe Romania will suffer a financial crisis this year.

War is pointed as the primary cause of economic crisis by 28% of those polled, followed by an increase in energy prices by 23%, pandemic effects by 21%, and just 11% of those surveyed associate a future economic crisis with government quality.

The rise in prices is the most severe economic issue: 78% of people are concerned about inflation, while just 8% are concerned about bank rate increases, and only 5% are worried about unemployment.

The fear of a possible economic crisis has caused 43% of those polled to postpone the purchase of valued commodities, such as vehicles or real estate, and put more money aside. However, 39% of people claim they haven’t put off buying valuables.

Following this poll and the fact that Romanians are expecting an economic crisis, many believe that the politicians at the governmental level would not be prepared to manage the emergency. In a possible situation in Romania, the citizens would not rely on the governing political forces but themselves, adapting practices to survive an economic crisis.