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$Unique_ID{COW03014}
$Pretitle{360}
$Title{Romania
Chapter 2A. Economic Scene}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Donald E. deKieffer}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Romania, Washington DC}
$Subject{romania
industry
romanian
production
steel
chemical
industrial
agricultural
country
economy}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Table 5.*0301401.tab
Table 6.*0301402.tab
Table 7.*0301403.tab
Table 8.*0301404.tab
Table 9.*0301405.tab
Table 10.*0301406.tab
}
Country: Romania
Book: Doing Business with the New Romania
Author: Donald E. deKieffer
Affiliation: Embassy of Romania, Washington DC
Date: 1990
Chapter 2A. Economic Scene
ECONOMY
After World War II, nationalization of commercial enterprises in Romania
was followed by planned expansion. Between 1948 and 1955 more than
100 new industrial undertakings were built and 200 more were rebuilt
and expanded.
Between 1948 and 1960 industrial production increased at an average
annual rate of more than 16 percent. Overall it increased five-fold
between 1938 and 1960.
This policy of industrialization was intensified in the following three
decades through rigid central planning. The results are now obvious. Huge
industries were capitalized with little or no thought given to demand or
other economic forces. Commitments were made to "favored" industries
and massive development projects at the expense of other sectors-and
consumers. The Romanian steel, chemical and machine-building industries
are gigantic by almost any standard, but they were built by neglecting
agriculture, transportation, services and tourism. The economy was also
dominated by an almost frantic desire to become "debt-free." This resulted
in cuts in imports, first of consumer goods, and later of needed technologies.
This rendered Romania incapable of maintaining world-class
efficiency even in the industries where it had invested the most.
This resulted in a dramatic decline in the standard of living for the
population and the erosion of Romania's competitive stature throughout much of
the 1980s. In addition, the Romanian economy is almost a caricature of
the old saw about a camel being "a horse designed by a committee."
Nevertheless, Romania has a young, well-trained work force, substantial
natural resources, and, in some sectors, huge industrial plants. The
restructuring of the economy, however, will take more than political will. It
desperately needs management skills and investment in neglected sectors
such as food processing, communications and transportation. The
consumer sector is a classic example of pent-up demand. Almost anything
can be sold-when it is available.
Capital Goods
In the course of this industrial growth the balance tipped away from
consumer goods, which in 1938 made up more than one-half of production,
to capital goods, which in the 1980s accounted for more than three-fifths.
Once a predominantly agrarian country, Romania has experienced high
industrial growth since the 1950s. Since 1970, industrial production has
risen at an average annual rate of more than 12 percent despite numerous
natural disasters, including a devastating earthquake in 1977.
Industry accounted for more than 60 percent of the country's national
income in 1976 and has remained at approximately this level. The bigger
growth has been experienced in the electronics, machine building,
chemical, and metallurgical sectors. This growth was achieved at the
expense of agricultural development and the Romanian consumer.
GDP
According to Western estimates the Romanian gross domestic product
(GDP) reached $37.8 billion by 1989. Romanian per capita GDP was
approximately $1,632.
About two-thirds of Romania's total investment went to industry. Prior to
the December revolution, more than 60% of industrial investment was
devoted to electric power, metallurgy, machine building and chemical
sectors. In recent years, energy and light industry have also been given
priority.
Statistics
Romania, like many other East European countries, maintained statistics
on an indexed rather than an actual "hard number" basis. Nevertheless,
the charts on the following pages give a general idea of economic
progress in various areas.
It should be kept in mind, however, that the relative value of the leu
(the Romanian currency unit is the "leu," plural "lei") changed during the
period covered by these charts.
Even with these caveats, it is still apparent that the growth rates in
almost every sector of the Romanian economy have been impressive
whether calculated in constant dollar terms or on any other basis.
Since Romania was a state-controlled economy, taxes appear
disproportionately low by Western standards. Further, such expenditures as
national defense also appear low as a proportion of the state budget. However,
such expenditures and income should be compared to gross national
product rather than considered as a percentage of state expenditures.
[See Table 5.: Romanian Economic Indicators]
[See Table 6.: Romanian National Budget]
AGRICULTURE
The varied natural conditions within Romania are reflected in the
div,rsity of its agricultural pursuits.
About a third of the country is covered by plains that are well suited
to agriculture. One third is taken up by hilly areas at an average altitude
of 1,300 to 1,600 feet, with slopes usually sufficiently mild to allow most
types of agricultural cultivation.
The rest consists of the mountainous areas, which have supported a
heavy agricultural population since prehistoric times, containing surfaces
suitable for use as arable land as well as natural alpine pastures.
Agrarian
Although Romania has traditionally had an agrarian economy, the
agricultural sector had only moderate performance during the period of
extreme centralization.
For the past 20 years, the major emphasis of economic growth in the
Romanian system has been on the development of heavy industrial, capital
intensive projects. As a result of recent financial problems, however,
the Romanian authorities have renewed their emphasis on agriculture.
Nowadays, Romania actively solicits cooperation agreements in various
fields of agricultural technology, especially food processing.
Exports
Unlike the consumer product area, where export sales may not yield
hard currency, Romania believes that its climate and large farm population
put it in a good position to be a major exporter of agricultural commodities.
It is clear, however, that many portions of the agricultural sector are
inefficient and unproductive by international standards. Therefore, renewed
emphasis has been placed not only on the production of food products but also
on processing, transportation and packaging.
The Romanian government is understandably sensitive about the fact that
it has an economy which can produce world-class electric generating equipment
but lags in agriculture. As this program has a political as well as an
economic backing and has been emphatically endorsed by the government, Western
agribusiness may find Romania a lucrative area for expansion.
Grains
The climate and relief of the extensive Romanian plains are favorable
to the development of cereal crops. By the late 1980s wheat covered some
5,700,000 acres; maize, 8,200,000 acres. Cereals are also found in the
sub-Carpathian region and in the Transylvanian Tableland, where they occupy
a high proportion of the total arable land. Other cereals include barely, rye
and oats.
[See Table 7.: Production of Agricultural Commodities]
Vegetables
Vegetables are grown in a relatively small area (some 632,000 acres).
Peas are the predominant crop; capable of an early harvest, they allow a
second crop, usually of fodder plants, to be grown on the same ground.
Vegetable cultivation is particularly marked around Bucharest; there is
specialization in the production of early potatoes, tomatoes, onions,
cabbages and green peppers. Similar peripheral