Romania’s economy increased by 2.4% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, the statistics office said Friday.
The gross domestic produce also increased by 0.3% from the last quarter of 2019, the National Statistics Institute said.
Romania had one of the highest growth rates in Europe although the figures do not reflect the true effects of the coronavirus crisis which only hit the economy midway through March.
The statistics office cautioned that the figures released on Friday are subject to revision due to insufficient data collection caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
“The gross domestic product flash estimates, as well as the provisional ones, are affected by the difficulties posed by the pandemic crisis and by the state of emergency,” a press statement said.
“Alternative data sources were used to complete the information and affect the quality of the produced indicators as little as possible. According to current practice, the data published today will be revised,” INS said.
Other European Union states that saw growth for the same period were Lithuania which registered 2.5% growth and Bulgaria which had 2.4%). Eurostat said Romania’s economy had expanded by 2.7%, while France’s economy shrunk by 5.4% and Italy’s contracted by 4.8%), Eurostat said.
The first-quarter results which run from January 1 to March 31, have been only moderately impacted by the heath crisis as the economy was hit in the second half of March after a state of emergency was decreed.
The full impact of the crisis will be felt in the second-quarter results.
Recent forecasts indicate that Romania’s economy will shrink by up to 9%.
The government expects a 1.9% contraction, according to its revised budget planning.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) expects a 4% economic contraction in Romania.
All forecasts say the economy will rebound in 2021.
Romania’s economy grew by 4.1% in 2019 after a growth of 4.4% growth in 2018, and 7.1% in 2017.
