Stiri	Stiri afaceri	Stiri companii	Evenimente de afaceri

BNR official: Romanian consumption should drop by 5 pct of GDP

Romanian consumption should drop by 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and Romania's economic growth should rely less on consumption and more on investment and export in the future, the National Bank of Romania's (BNR) chief economist Valentin Lazea told a financial conference here on Tuesday.

He stressed that the money, fiscal, salary, pension and structural policies should work together in order to curb the uncontrolled rise in consumption and to boost domestic saving, investment and exports.

Lazea explained that in case strong pressure is put for an appreciation of the national leu currency, the BNR will have to resist such trend in order to boost exports.

With respect to the other policies aimed at limiting the consumption growth, the central bank chief economist cited the increased excise taxes, the rise in wages strictly below the rise in labour productivity and the return to a pensions system based on definite contribution, rather than on definite benefits (a pension point equals 45 percent of the average salary).

On the structural policies Lazea underscored Romania is the only state in the region that 'manages' to post a deficit in tourism and very low surplus in transport.

'Tourism-sector workers are the worst paid in Romania, after the workers in the farming sector, while in the West they are the best paid, after the banking system employees', he explained.

Cutting domestic consumption by 5 percent of GDP makes room for an adjustment of the current account deficit from an average minus 10 percent to minus 5 percent, as it happened in fact in the 2009 year of downturn, he argued.

Investment accounted for an average 25.3 percent of GDP over 2001-2008, a level that the BNR official said was inadequate, with the total end consumption accounting for 84.5 percent; the net export had a negative influence of minus 9.8 percent.

Lazea warned that the foreign investors are increasingly sceptical in financing countries living on debt and such countries will be penalised by the foreign investors if they do not change their consumption-based economic growth model.

'The adjustment Romania must make involves changing the consumption- and debt-based economic growth model to growth based on export and investment', the BNR chief economist stressed

Sursa: http://www.agerpres.ro

Tags: consumption growth percent should bnr

Articole similare