Oxford Analytica: Romania faces imminent economic crisis

Duminică, 4 ianuarie 2009, 12:04 English | Business

Romania faces an imminent economic crisis in 2009, the signs of which were already visible in late 2008, Oxford Analytica says in a report, quoted by Romanian news agency Mediafax. Oxford Analytica experts say Romania faces its first economic crisis since the fall of communism, as its 2008 performance, with a record economic growth of about 9% in the first nine months of 2008, was significantly slowed down by the global financial crisis.

The monetary policy was reviewed and marked by restrictions in the last three months of last year and sectors such as industry and the banking services needed government support.

But no bank in Romania was affected significantly by the international turmoil despite problems in the loan segment. Erste and Raiffeisen had to erase debts of hundreds of millions of euro following the Lehman Brothers and Icelandic bankruptcies, but Oxford Analytica experts forecast a profit recovery for the two banks active in Romania, given the support provided by the Austrian state.