Raiffeisen Bank: Romanian economy dropped 7.5% during the second trimester

Romania’s economy dropped 7.5% during the second 2009 trimester against the same period last year, a more accentuated downfall compared with the figure for the first trimester – 6.2%, a Raiffeisen Bank report shows. The bank’s analysts say that the GDP shrinkage slowed down during April-June, in contrast with the same 2008 trimester.

„Recent data show that the economic activity was fairly slow during the second trimester and we expect the real GDP to drop further. Nevertheless, the drop in GDP for the second trimester should be less severe that the drop for the previous semester:, the report goes on to show. Romania’s GDP for the first trimester dropped 4.6% against the GDP for the last 2008 trimester.

Raiffeisen Bank estimates that he GDP will continue to decrease during the third trimester as well. The last months of the year are forecasted to record an increase in GDP.

The bank’s analysts believe that Romania’s Central Bank (BNR) will continue to cut the interest, which is estimated to reach 8% by the end of the year. Its current value is 9%.