Romania’s Economy Falls 12.3% in Q2

Romania’s economy falls 12.3% in Q2 as compared to Q1 2020. Year to year, the fall in Q2 2020 as compared to Q2 2019 is 10.5%. Also, the GDP fell 4.7% in the first 6 months of 2020 as compared to the first 6 months of 2019.

This is the biggest shrinkage of the economy in the past 24 years. The first signs of recession in Romania appeared right at the end of the Q1, but, because this is the first quarter when the economy falls, Romania doesn’t enter the recession yet. In Q1 Romania recorded 2.4% economic growth and it was one of the few European countries which avoided a fall in Q1.

The minister of Finance is confident Romania will avoid entering recession, meaning Q3 will mark a comeback of the GDP. Moreover, the minister foresees a fall of only 3.9% of the economy for the whole year of 2020, but for this to happen, the last two quarters have to register unprecedented growths in terms of industrial production, exports and internal demand.

The European Commission and the IMF predicted Romania’s GDP will decrease between 5 and 6% in 2020.