GDP per capita in Romania will be 70% of the EU average in 2021

By Emea Riga
The Romanian Government approved the Memorandum on the Convergence Program 2019-2022, the Ministry of Finance informs.
The document is based on the provisions of the Fiscal-Budget Strategy for the period 2019-2021 and the forecast for the medium-term macroeconomic framework 2019-2022.
According to statistical data, Romania’s economic growth is among the highest in the European Union. In the last 3 years, the average annual economic growth was 5.3%, in the year 2016 the economic growth was 4.8%, in 2017 by 7%, and in 2018 by 4.1%. With the high economic growth, Romania’s development gaps have diminished compared to other EU countries. In 2017, GDP per capita at the purchasing power standard stood at 62.5% of the EU average, compared with 55.9% in 2015 and 59.3% in 2016. It is estimated that in 2018 GDP per capita at the standard purchasing power has exceeded the 65% threshold.
According to the Governance Program, it is envisaged to exceed the 70% of the EU average per capita GDP by 2021 in the purchasing power standard.
The budgetary planning for 2019 and estimates for 2020-2021 set the ESA budget deficit in 2019 to 2.8% of GDP, a 0.1 percentage point adjustment compared to 2018, which will continue on the 2020-2020 horizon, following that it should reach 2,0% of GDP in 2022, ie an adjustment of 0,8 percentage points compared to 2019. On the horizon 2019-2022 fiscal-budgetary policy continues to directly support economic growth in the margin allowed by the Stability and Growth Pact, respectively an ESA budget deficit below the 3% of GDP threshold.
As regards public debt, at the end of 2018, its level was 35% of GDP, decreasing by 2017 by 0.2 percentage points. In the medium term, public debt is projected to remain at a sustained level below the 60% of GDP reference value set by the Maastricht Treaty.
The Romanian Government maintains its commitment to joining the eurozone in 2024, as a result of the Report on the substantiation of the national euro adoption plan (adopted at its meeting on January 30, 2019).