The depreciation of the leu boosts exports

The drop in orders and business in industry registered in October was accompanied by higher revenues from exports, due to the depreciation of the leu.

“The economy will take a while to rebound. We do well with exports, this is not where our problems lie.  We count on exports, and for these very reasons, next year we expect 65 percent of production to be exported in 2009,” said Constantin Stroe, President of Automobile Dacia.

The National Institute of Statistics (INS) indicated that the growth rate of goods imports slowed year-on-year 3.6 percent in October 2008, computed in euro, while exports rose 13.3 percent. Computed in lei, imports increased only 15.5 percent while exports rose 26.3 percent.

The trade deficit amounted to RON 7.53 billion (€2.01 bln) in October 2008. In this year’s first ten months, the trade deficit was €19.19 bln, up 11.2 percent year-on-year.