Recession comes in the third quarter

The toughest part of the recession will be felt by Romania in the third quarter, while the economy will start to grow in the last quarter, according to NBR.

"Some time ago I thought the toughest point of the recession would be in the second quarter, but now we expect it in the third quarter. At the beginning of the year, in January-February, I was a little optimistic, because lending had begun to show signs of exit from the gap it had got in during the fourth quarter of last year. However, there is a deceleration of 1% for the loans granted to companies in April", said Eugen Dijmărescu, the vice-governor of the Romanian National Bank (BNR).

BNR is directly interested in the resumption of the economic cycle and this does not exclude ensuring the liquidity needs in the market. "NBR does not exclude a decrease in the rate of minimum mandatory reserves (RMO) nor reducing the monetary policy interest, if the Government would support it", said Dijmărescu. He stated that such measures would be counterproductive without the Government support.

Although last months the governor of BNR, Mugur Isărescu, said that the Romanian economy would go through a "V" recession, with a decrease followed by a gradual growth, and that the minimum point of this decline was achieved in the first quarter, Dijmărescu is dissent. "As far as the recession is concerned, I think we are dealing with an <>, not with a <>or <>", said Dijmărescu.