Romania's economy will grow by 1.6 percent this year, the biggest economic growth in the European Union excluding the Baltic States, according to the European Commission, quoted by Mediafax. Latvia will have the greatest GDP advance in the EU, 3.8 percent, followed by Lithuania, with 3.1 percent, and Estonia, on three percent. Right after Romania comes Malta with an estimated advance of 1.5 percent, and Bulgaria, on 1.4 percent. Hungary will be the only Member State outside the euro zone that will register a contraction this year, of 0.1 percent, after a 1.7 percent decrease last year. Meanwhile, the Czech economy will stagnate this year after losing 1.1 percent last year. Romania will have the highest average annual inflation in the EU in 2013, according to the Commission, at 4.6 percent, compared to an average of two percent in the EU and 1.8 percent in the euro zone.


 

The Diplomat