Economic sentiment in Romania records moderate growth, says INS report

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for Romania moderately increased in the manufacturing industry, construction industry, retail trade and services, shows a survey conducted by the National Statistics Institute. The survey sample comprises of 2000 managers in the manufacturing sector, 1600 representatives of the construction industry, 2110 managers in retail trade and 2492 representatives of the services sector.

Manufacturing industry

Managers in this sector forecast a moderate growth of 6 percent in the order books. Employment expectations are stable, with a 3 percent rise in the manufacturing sector, while companies with more than 500 employees are faring better and expressed hope for 8 percent in growth.

A prominent growth of 18 percent will be recorded in vehicles manufacturing, the beverage production will record an 8 percent increase and a further 5 percent growth will be recorded in products manufactured from rubber, plastic and oil. Price trends are expected to grow moderately, by 11 percent, according to surveyed managers.
 

Construction industry

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The construction business will record a moderate 12 percent increase in the following three months and a relative stability of 5 percent in the order books. The surveyed managers estimate a 3 percent increase in employment expectations. Prices for construction works are forecasted to increase by a moderate 14 percent.

Trade retail

In the trade sector, managers are expecting a 9 percent improvement in the business situation for the following three months. Intentions of placing orders for suppliers of goods will increase by 5 percent. Employment expectations are expected to improve by 1 percent. Company managers estimate that selling-prices will record a 21 percent increase in the next period.
 

Services

The level of demands expected over the next 3 months will have a 10 percent increase. Managers expect the level of employment in the next three months to increase by 3 percent. In addition, selling-price expectations will increase by 11 percent, according to surveyed managers.

In situation surveys, managers are not asked to provide specific numbers, but to assess the company and sector activity, using perception criteria. Answer options for the questions are general and don’t include specific data.

Ovidiu Posirca