If we don’t have economic growth in 2011, we can definitely speak of Gvt. failure

Economy Minister Adriean Videanu in an interview with ZF yesterday admitted that should the economy not return to growth in 2011, this will clearly be a failure of the government he is part of. The government had announced the economy would grow again as soon as this year, in the context where almost all EU economies will expand in 2010, but the latest estimates are pointing to a 1.9% GDP contraction in Romania. "Hadn't there been for the salary cuts in the public sector and the VAT hike, which we had to enforce, the economy would have turned the corner. For Q2, we estimate GDP trend against the same period of last year was close to zero, but Q3 will see the economy decline again. You also have to take floods into account," explains the minister. Asked, though, whether the government is not responsible for the fact that it took into account an overestimated level of budgetary revenues as it counted on an unrealistic economic growth projection in 2010, the minister says this kind of thinking is "flawed". "The only mistake we assume is we did not revamp the administration in due time", explained Videanu.