Romania’s 2022 GDP growth at 4.5%. Education is key (OECD)
A report released on Jan 28 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that Romania’s economy grew by 6.3% in 2021 and is expected to grow by 4.5% in 2022 and 2023.
Boosting productivity and human capital will foster economic growth, more jobs and higher incomes in Romania, the OECD also said in its report.
Accelerating the pace of structural reforms, investing EU funds effectively while ensuring good fiscal management will help strengthen the recovery and future growth, which will lead to better opportunities for people.
According to the organisation, Romania made strong progress in raising living standards prior to the Covid-19 crisis and the resilience of its economy during the pandemic has been impressive.
In order to sustain its recovery over the medium to longer term, Romania must focus on the effective implementation of its EU-funded Recovery and Resilience Plan, by strengthening its administrative capacity and carrying out necessary reforms in areas like pensions, revival of productivity growth, job creation and skills development, strengthening of the rule of law and public finances.
"The immediate priority is to make more progress on the vaccination campaign. Strengthening productivity by reducing competition barriers, improving the regulatory framework, and enhancing the size and quality of the workforce will then be key to further increase living standards and facilitate convergence towards OECD income levels," OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said.
Romania’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) rose to over 60% of the OECD average, up from around just 30% in the early 2000s.
In OECD's view, Romania lags behind most OECD countries in ensuring access to high-quality education, healthcare, housing and transport and that the pandemic has deepened inequalities by hitting vulnerable groups hardest, especially young people, women and Roma populations.
"It is very important to leverage education and training to bring more low-skilled workers into the formal labour market. Deploying more active labour market policies and improving access to quality vocational and adult education would help address a mismatch in the labour market. Improving skills and job opportunities would also help to slow the flow of Romanian emigrants, which has already hampered economic development through labour and skill shortages," the OECD concluded.
On Jan 25, 2022 the OECD Council announced that it has decided to open accession discussions with six candidates for membership, including Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
Source: www.zfenglish.com, 28.01.2022
