The sustainability of Romania’s fiscal consolidation path, the still high budgetary deficit, and persistent macroeconomic imbalances remain key areas of concern, AmCham Romania has warned.
The recent decision by Fitch to maintain the country’s investment-grade rating at BBB- highlights vulnerabilities in the Romanian economy that remain unaddressed. The organization pointed to the causes of Romania’s macroeconomic fragility, as identified in the Fitch report: political instability, uncertainty in decision-making, and the risk of a slowdown in reforms.
“Companies have paid the cost of reducing the budget deficit, are investing, paying taxes, sustaining jobs, and supporting the economy during a difficult period, yet they cannot compensate for the lack of policy predictability, a criterion closely scrutinized by clients, shareholders, and institutional investors,” AmCham said.
The organization said that the current context calls for less political confrontation and greater institutional responsibility, and that investor confidence and Romania’s credibility depend on stable governance, predictable public policies, and the ability of public institutions to deliver on their reform commitments.
“The priorities are clear: combating tax evasion and improving tax collection, restructuring public spending, professionalizing the public administration, accelerating the reforms needed to fully absorb NRRP funding and resources available under the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework, and making full use of the opportunities offered by the SAFE instrument. These priorities can no longer be postponed or subordinated to electoral cycles,” it said.
At the same time, the organization called on decision-makers and the administration “to stop tolerating corruption, incompetence, and the stalling of strategic projects in key sectors such as energy, the digitalization of public systems, defense, healthcare, and education.”
“The current crises in the energy and cybersecurity sectors have exposed systemic vulnerabilities that would have been avoidable had the necessary reforms and investments been undertaken in time. As economic, energy, climate, and security challenges become more frequent and complex, delays in reforms and investment in critical infrastructure, along with prolonged political instability, create systemic bottlenecks, increase economic costs, erode trust in public institutions, and fuel social tensions, ultimately weakening the state’s ability to respond effectively to crises,” AmCham said.
Given that financing needs remaining acute and the global economy is undergoing significant transformation, Romania’s priority “should be to encourage investors to strengthen their operations in the country, the organization argued. The country should also attract new large-scale investments with a strong multiplier effect across the economy. Preserving, and ideally improving, the country’s sovereign credit rating, together with accession to the OECD and the euro area, is a concrete way to signal this commitment to international markets,” it said.
AmCham currently gathers more than 600 American, international, and Romanian companies with cumulative investments of over USD 30 billion in the country.
(Photo: Ruletkka/ Dreamstime)
simona@romania-insider.com
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