Romania’s economy in 2009

Most executives have made plans to make the best use of liquidities, and to limit a loss of speed anticipated in most economic sectors. “In this financial crisis, everyone is considering costs and personnel cuts. The number of those who are to lose their jobs varies between 500,000 and one million,” according to a co-President of the European Drinks group, Ioan Micula. The sectors likely to register the best growth in 2009 are mutual funds (24 percent year-on-year, insurance (10-20 percent annual growth), and express delivery services (10-30 percent growth). Double digit growth is also expected in retail, consulting, PR and the distribution fields. On the other hand, the auto industry, household appliances, stock market brokerage and agriculture could register sharp declines, down as much as 40-50 percent compared to 2008. This is a result of an increasingly visible trend: the crisis is leading Romanian consumers to focus on basic and cheaper products.