Romania has more opportunities for investors than we can imagine, said Mugur Isărescu, the governor of the Romanian Central Bank said yesterday, addressing the businesspeople present at the "Forum Gulf Cooperation Council - Romania:
Business opportunities in Central and South-Eastern Europe", organized by Forum Invest.
Unfortunately, we are not good at exploiting them ourselves or at finishing what we start. According to the governor of the NBR, Romania does not necessarily need money, but rather it needs entrepreneurs, viable projects and people that would see them through: "We are a country that has many unfinished projects. 40,000 projects funded by the state budget lie unfinished. In my opinion, that about says it all".
He said that Romania needs a stable and healthy economy, ready to return to growth.
"Romania"s economy has currently stabilized and is ready for a new cycle of sustainable growth, one which we wish to last longer and rely on factors that will not create imbalances like it did in the past, but rather reduce them", said the Governor of the NBR.
Mugur Isărescu said that Romania"s foreign deficit dropped from 12-14% in 2007-2008, to around 4-5% of the GDP, and said he hopes it will remain around this level. According to the governor, this is a deficit that can be financed through direct foreign investments, compounded by the absorption of European grants, which is rather modest currently.
"The next cycle of economic growth needs to be based on the stimulation of manufacturing, in order to maintain this positive gap which we had over the last two years", said the Governor, who added that the risk of the imbalances reappearing again was very small, subject however to the correct economic policies.
The Romanian Central Bank predicts an economic growth of 1.5% in 2011 and 4-5% in 2012.
* Inflation below 4
