The Romanian GDP has increased by 0.5 percent in the second quarter of this year against the previous one leading the country to report the fourth highest economic growth rate in the EU after Sweden (1.4 percent), Latvia (1.0 percent) and Slovakia (0.7 percent), according to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

GDP fell by 0.2 percent in both the euro area (EA17) and the EU27 during the second quarter of 2012, compared with the previous quarter. Some of the largest decreases were reported in Portugal (-1.2 percent), Finland (-1.0 percent), Cyprus (-0.8 percent) and Italy (-0.7 percent).

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP fell by 0.4 percent in the euro area and by 0.2 percent in the EU27 in the second quarter of 2012, after 0.0 percent and +0.1 percent respectively in the previous quarter.

During the second quarter of 2012, GDP increased by 0.4 percent in the United States compared with the previous quarter (after +0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2012) and by 0.3 percent in Japan (after +1.3 percent).

The Romanian Government expects the economy to grow by 1.2 percent this year. The authorities have slashed the economic growth forecast for 2012 by 0.3 percent from a previous 1.5 percent level.

The International Monetary Fund, too, has considerably reduced its economic growth forecast for Romania from a previous 1.5 percent level to 0.9 percent, according to an announcement made yesterday by Erik der Vrijer, the IMF mission chief in Romania. For next year the IMF expects the local economy to grow by 3 percent.

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