“An overlapping of the political crisis with the economic downturn is a disaster and will magnify all negative effects that the business environment has been feeling to date. A RON 0.05 depreciation of the leu against the euro in just a few hours is very large,” said businessman Dan Adamescu, who controls Unirea Shopping Center, Astra Asigurări, and the Rex hotel.

Dan Şucu, owner of the Mobexpert furniture producer, said that the depreciation of the leu prior to the economic crisis was felt very slightly in terms of final consumer price because companies found all kinds of methods to cut production costs to compensate for the exchange rate difference. Considering that companies have now run out of such options, Şucu expects the depreciation of the leu will raise final consumer prices.

The government’s investment programs and payments to the companies that have a contract with the state will be delayed even further, according to the General Manager of SAP Romania software company, Valetin Tomşa. “The same thing will happen to all the laws and measures announced by the government which are now at a certain stage of finalization. Foreign investors will avoid doing business in Romania,” Tomşa said.