Romanian Pres See Econ Growth To 3-4.5% In '09

Romania's economic growth will reach 3-4.5% in 2009 and the country will "look much better" compared to other states affected by the economic downturn, President Traian Basescu said Thursday.

"Romania will look much better than other countries that saw financial collapse; Romania will not see a negative growth. The economy will grow by 3% to 4.5%, provided we kick off the large infrastructure programs, SME development that will capitalize agricultural production, the thermal insulation programs," Basescu told a press conference in western city of Timisoara.
 
Basescu said the international economic crisis affected the Romanian economy on two key levels: exports and production financing.
 
"No government can provide external markets, and many of the Romanian companies see a rough decrease on the external market, but we can help them on the local market," Basescu said.
 
Mediafax