Romania, Greece – the European countries most sorely affected by crisis

Last year, consumers in Romania and Greece were the most sorely affected by the financial crisis and their country’s high debt, according to the results of the latest study by GfK, released yesterday.

The gross domestic product slumped by 4.2 pc in Greece and by 1.9 pc in Romania. Hence, consumers’ economic expectations were just as low: Romanians were Europe’s laggards, followed by Greece. Both countries’ governments are under huge international pressure to reduce their budget deficit, as they received financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the EU.

This resulted in harsh social costs cuts and higher taxes. As a consequence, the expectations of consumers in both countries regarding incomes were preponderantly negative in 2010. Their eagerness to make purchases was affected, accordingly, by fears for the future. Romania and Greece, accompanied by Portugal, claimed the last positions in a comparative European study for 2010.

“Although a lot of voices claimed, before the crisis, that Romania would not be harmed by it, it seems we are, alongside Greece, the most sorely affected. Forecasts suggest 2011 will be, as well, a very difficult year, with lower incomes for the population and a level of pessimism above the European average,” Andi Dumitrescu, director general GfK Romania, stated.

According to GfK calculations, Germany took very prompt action to emerge out of the financial and economic crisis, while, in Poland, GDP rose by 3.5 per cent, almost the same as Germany’s growth rate. Nonetheless, the positive economic growth reported last year was felt only to a limited extent by Polish consumers.

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Source: Nine O'Clock