Business Forum • 9 April, 2026 at 9:14 AM
The World Bank has significantly downgraded its economic growth projections for Romania this year, lowering expectations to 0.5% from the 1.3% forecast issued at the start of 2026. Experts now anticipate a 1.4% expansion for 2027, a notable decrease from the previously estimated 1.9%.
This deceleration is largely attributed to the government's fiscal adjustment measures. Tightened fiscal policies, including wage and pension freezes in the public sector, coupled with restrictive monetary policy, have severely constrained private consumption. Consumption growth plummeted to 0.6% last year, a sharp decline from nearly 6% in 2024.
Consequently, overall economic growth slowed to 0.7%, marking the country's weakest performance since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the slowdown, the report highlights progress in deficit reduction. A robust reform package involving tax hikes and spending freezes helped narrow the budget deficit to 8% of GDP last year, down from 9.3% in 2024.
The World Bank estimates the deficit will fall below 6% of GDP by 2027.