The Romanian economy would register an advance of 3.5% this year, after a contraction of 5% in 2020, so that in 2022 economic growth will accelerate to 4.1%, according to the latest report on the outlook for the world economy published on Tuesday by the World Bank.

In comparison, in October last year, the World Bank forecast that the Romanian economy will contract by 5.7% in 2020, but will register a recovery of 4.9% in 2021.

With regard to the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, which includes Romania, the World Bank expects the region’s economy to show a moderate advance of 3.3% this year and stresses that this scenario is conditioned by the distribution an effective vaccine in early 2021 in advanced economies, large emerging markets as well as in developing economies, including Russia, and in the second half of the year also in other countries. Also, the scenario starts from the hypothesis that geopolitical tensions will not escalate in the region, according to Agerpres.

The World Bank also revised down its forecasts for global economic growth in 2021, to 4% from 4.2% as previously estimated, after a contraction of 4.3% in 2020, and warned that an increase in cases of COVID-19 infection and delays in vaccine distribution could limit this year’s comeback to just 1.6%.

“Overcoming the impact of the pandemic requires efforts to improve the business environment, increase flexibility in the labor market and strengthen transparency and governance,” said World Bank President David Malpass.

The World Bank warns that the short-term outlook is very uncertain and different scenarios are possible. “A pessimistic scenario, in which infections continue to grow and vaccine launch is delayed, could limit global expansion to 1.6% in 2021. Instead, an optimistic scenario in which the pandemic is successfully controlled and vaccination is done quickly, the growth of the world economy could accelerate by up to 5%,” the latest report from the international financial institution said.