Romania’s exports of goods increased by 11.9 percent year-on-year in July to hit a second-highest all-time monthly level of EUR 5.9 billion, but were outpaced by imports, government data showed on Monday.
In March 2018, Romania’s exports reached for the first time in history the EUR 6 billion threshold, rising to EUR 6.1 billion.
According to National Institute of Statistics (INS), imports rose by 15.4 percent year-on-year in July to 7.17 billion – also the second-highest all-time level -, and the trade deficit widened by 28.7 percent to EUR 1.27 billion.
In the first seven months of this year, exports increased by 10.4 percent year-on-year, to EUR 39.9 billion, and imports grew by 10.5 percent, to EUR 47.5 billion.
The seven-month trade deficit rose by 11.3 percent year-on-year, to EUR 7.58 billion.
Romania’s trade gap surged 30 percent in 2017 to EUR 12.96 billion, as the government adopted during the last few years a strategy of wage-led growth, stimulating household consumption and GDP growth rates.
But this model has generated larger fiscal and current account deficits and experts insist Romania should change the economic model in order to obtain real long-term economic and social development.