BR Exclusive. Ionut Dumitru (Raiffeisen Bank): In Q1 2018, due to the so-called fiscal revolution the consumer confidence crashed

Ionut Dumitru, the chief economist of Raiffeisen Bank, says that private consumption was the driver of economic growth last year, while the raft of changes in the fiscal legislation have impacted the confidence of consumers.

“In Q1 2018, due to the so-called fiscal revolution the consumer confidence crashed, which led to a 0 percent growth q/q, showing that the recent economic growth has been fragile and not sustainable,” said the economist during the BR’s Country Focus Community Forum.

He went on to say that social spending is the highest in Europe as a percentage of fiscal revenues.

The main factor of economic growth was consumption, leading to an economic growth of almost 7 percent last year, 90 percent based on consumption, said the economist.

Year-on-year, the economic growth stood at 4.4 percent in the first quarter of this year.