Romania will come under the screening of the European Commission (EC) and rating agencies in April, but the stronger confidence in the country's economic recovery implied by the World Bank's and European Commission's forecasts favor positive reviews, finance minister Alexandru Nazare said on April 6.

"We badly need to get a positive evaluation at the end of the review," minister Nazare said, Economica.net reported.

Shortly after his comments, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also announced an improved forecast for Romania's growth this year - 6% - well above the 4.3% seen by the WB.

Minister Nazare assured that the Government's budget planning was drafted in close cooperation with the European Commission, meaning that the planning structure was already agreed upon in broad terms.

He also announced that Romania's public deficit shrank by 0.4% in the first quarter of the year (Q1) compared to the same period last year.

The fiscal consolidation and the public debt management are the main elements monitored by the rating agencies, which maintained Romania in the investment-grade area despite the 8.9%-of-GDP deficit and the surge in the debt-to-GDP ratio by 12.5pp to nearly 50% in 2020. Prime minister Florin Citu recently expressed confidence about the rating agencies eventually improving the country's outlook (currently negative) while admitting that the upgrade typically takes more time than the downgrade.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Ministerul Finantelor)