Editorial - Economic expectations stay positive

Looking at the broader picture, in its recent World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates Romania’s economic growth at 2.7 per cent this year and at 2.9 per cent in 2016. In addition, according to the same report, the country’s GDP growth is expected to accelerate to 3.5 per cent in 2020. 
The IMF’s forecast is in agreement with the one previously published in a European Commission report, which upgraded Romania's 2015 growth forecast to 2.7 per cent from the 2.5 per cent estimate announced in November last year. The same report pointed out that Romania’s expected growth was the sixth highest in the EU. The average economic growth is estimated at
1.7 per cent in the EU and 1.3 per cent in the Eurozone area.
In a separate development, the IMF has warned Romania that the planned tax cuts ahead of next year's elections should be carefully analyzed. Even so, the government in Bucharest said it would lower the value-added tax for food to nine per cent from 24 per cent, starting June, and it plans to cut VAT for non-food products to 20 per cent on January 1.