The World Bank Office Romania ROMANIA WEEKLY UPDATE Monday September 27 2004 The material published in this newsletter is compiled by the World Bank s Bucharest office and staff in Washington and on the basis of publicly available information It does not represent the opinion of the World Bank or any other official body No responsibility for factual accuracy can be taken Gross Domestic Product first semester of 2004 EU accession two more chapters closed The Gross Domestic Product estimated for the first semester of 2004 amounted to ROL 907 871 1 bn current prices increasing in real terms by 6 6 as against the first semester of 2003 The growth was significantly driven by higher activity volumes and consequently by higher gross value added in industry 5 9 construction 8 6 and services 6 5 whose contribution to the Gross Domestic Product was 83 9 Romania completed two more acquis chapters for EU accession bringing the total number to 27 out of 30 policy topics The chapters closed are Movement of Services and Regional Policy Among the remaining three open chapters are Justice and Home Affairs Competition including State Aid and Environment The Environment chapter is also at an advanced stage of negotiation but more detailed plans must be drafted prior to provisional closing Romania hopes to close the accession talks this year and sign the Accession Treaty early next year in order to join the Union at the beginning of 2007 Romania is still waiting for the functioning market economy tag from Brussels this October Agriculture Industry Construction Services Indirectly measured fin intermediation services Gross value added Net taxes on product Gross Domestic Product Total final consumption Households Government Gross capital formation Gross fix capital formation Net export goods services Export goods services Import goods services ROL bn curr prices 1st sem 04 50 774 5 287 766 0 42 722 8 431 114 9 In against the 1st semester 03 105 3 105 9 108 6 106 5 8 923 7 104 1 803 454 5 104 416 6 907 871 1 803 914 4 745 655 5 58 258 9 190 174 6 188 879 6 86 217 9 418 607 5 504 825 4 106 3 108 8 106 6 108 8 109 0 106 0 110 4 117 1 119 1 Total final consumption registered a growth of 8 8 in the first semester of 2004 in comparison with the same period of 2003 while the final consumption of households increased by 9 0 Gross fixed capital formation registered a growth by 10 4 percentage points The investment rate as a ratio to gross value added per economy was 23 5 in the first semester of 2004 22 3 in the same period of 2003 Additional information can be found at http www insse ro IMF completion of first quarterly review The IMF Executive Board has completed the first quarterly review of the 2 year stand by agreement with Romania which started in July The Romanian authorities have not drawn funds so far and intend to continue treating the arrangement as precautionary The IMF has approved the waiver requested by the Romanian authorities regarding the non observance of ceilings for private enterprises arrears to the state budget and social security funds as of the end of June The IMF praises the government s policy of tightening the fiscal stance in response to growing domestic demand while it calls for cautious monitoring of the tax reform next year including the proposed tax rate cuts Foreign trade January July 2004 In July 2004 exports amounted to EUR 1 829 7 mn and represent the highest monthly value registered since 1990 Exports FOB during January July 2004 amounted to EUR 10 843 8 mn by 20 6 more than during the similar period of 2003 In the structure of exports by goods five sections hold 69 9 of total exports clothing and textiles machinery and mechanical devices metallurgical products minerals oil ores coal and footwear In comparison with the similar period of 2003 exports to the European Union countries EU 25 increased by 20 1 registering a weight of 73 7 in total exports Imports CIF during January 1 July 31 2004 amounted to EUR 14 342 7 mn EUR 13 238 6 mn in prices FOB 22 2 more than during the similar period of 2003 In the structure of imports by goods the first five sections representing 66 7 of total imports were machinery and mechanical devices clothing fabrics textiles mineral products oil and related products coal ores means of transport and metallurgical products In comparison with the similar period of 2003 imports coming from the European Union countries EU 25 increased by 17 6 registering a weight of 65 3 in total imports Imports CIF in July 2004 amounted to EUR 2 368 0 mn EUR 2 185 7 mn imports FOB by 23 2 more than in July 2003 During January July 2004 the commercial deficit FOB CIF amounted to EUR 3 498 9 mn and in July 2004 it was EUR 538 3 mn In prices FOB FOB the deficit was EUR 2 394 8 mn during January July 2004 and EUR 356 0 mn in July 2004 The National Bank of Romania exchange rate at the end of July 2004 was ROL 41 088 EUR 0 1 as against the end of 2003 and ROL 34 104 USD 4 6 as against the end of 2003 NBR reference interest rate Aug 04 Jul 04 Jun 04 May 04 Apr 04 Mar 04 Feb 04 20 29 20 75 21 25 21 25 21 25 21 25 21 25 The reference rate of the NBR is 19 24 percent per year in September 2004 The World Bank Office Romania ROMANIA WEEKLY UPDATE Monday September 27 2004 The material published in this newsletter is compiled by the World Bank s Bucharest office and staff in Washington and on the basis of publicly available information It does not represent the opinion of the World Bank or any other official body No responsibility for factual accuracy can be taken See attached the evolution of the reference rate over the previous 7 months
View Full Document
Unlocking...