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Serbanescu, Ilie
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5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Exports no engine of growth in Romania
Despite 28 percent growth in exports the Romanian economy as a whole did not expand in 2010, with the gross domestic product floundering at minus 1.2 percent. This dispels the myth that exports are Romania's engine for growth, economist Ilie Şerbănescu writes in the daily România Liberă: "Because they account for only a small part of the overall economic performance, exports won't change the big picture no matter how much they increase. ... Because of its low dependence on exports the Romanian economy can't be dragged out of the crisis by Western economies, so it doesn't matter how well those economies recover. There was just one valid explanation before the crisis, during it and after it: economic growth here depends mainly on Romanian consumption. The artificial, loan-based increase in consumption before the crisis generated the economic growth between 2004 and 2008. The end of consumption as a result of the credit stop was a major feature of the crisis."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Economy, » Romania
Romania concerned about introducing the euro
Romania has presented its so-called convergence programme for achieving a balanced budget to the EU. The country's budgetary deficit is currently at eight percent. Entry to the Eurzone has become more of a challenge, writes the daily România Liberă: "The convergence programme has poured oil on troubled waters. For without exaggerating it offers the chance to show that Bucharest won't follow in the footsteps of Athens and Sofia. What the problems concerning the introduction of the euro are in the long term is clear. ... The case of Greece shows that countries that are not competitive have no place in the Eurozone. ... The competitive countries have closed the doors to the Eurozone for who knows how many years to defend the entity on which they have been working for more than four decades. And those who remain outside have begun to think ten times more about it before they ask to join."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Financial Markets, » Romania
Romania in the grip of foreign banks
The weekly Revista 22 inspects the activities of foreign banks in Romania: "Foreign banks clearly and unequivocally profit from their business in Romania. ... [But] what does Romania gain from this? A distorted economy, a gap between production and consumption, cars but no motorways. Have the foreign banks financed the construction of motorways, hospitals, schools or theatres? Heaven forbid! Apart from a few villas and office buildings all they have financed is consumption, consumption, consumption [by lending money]. To put it clearly, developing the country is not the goal of foreign banks in Romania. They came here to make a profit. This in itself is not reprehensible or regrettable. But it is a crime for the foreign banks to claim they support the development of the country. For this is not exactly true."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Romania
Romania's banks in foreign hands
Romania's bank sector is regarded as the country's most developed economic sector in terms of compliance with European norms and standards. The reason for this is that almost all Romania's banks are now owned by Western European finance groups. According to Ilie Serbanescu, this is having an impact on the nation's entire economy. "Domestic capital, whether it was good or bad, has been pushed to one side. Foreign banks have brought cheap money into the country through their parent companies and this allows them to charge low interest for loans. ... But this is bad for financial and economic policy. The country has no such thing as an interest rate policy. Romania's national bank has become hostage to the interests of commercial foreign banks. Its efficiency has been reduced to zero."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Financial Markets, » Romania
Romania's job market has emptied
Ilie Serbanescu writes that an estimated 1.2 to 3.4 million Romanians live abroad, commenting on the consequences for the domestic market. "For a country that thinks about its future, such figures are devastating. Of the 4.5 million Romanians who have regular legal employment, 75 percent are working abroad. For now the politicians are whooping with joy about the fact that Romania doesn't have problems with unemployment and that the money that Romanians working abroad send home is covering the country's absurdly and dangerously large foreign trade deficit. No one can say how long this will continue to function, but one thing's for sure: the bubble will burst... and then the lamentations will be great."
» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Romania
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