Government projects 70.5bn lei GDP and inflation of 9.5% for 2009

The Government anticipates that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 will be 70.5 billion lei, a 6% increase compared with 2008 (62.7bn lei), while the rate of inflation will be 9.5%. Such an announcement was made by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Trade Igor Dodon at the Parliament’s meeting on October 30, Info-Prim Neo reports. The GDP in six months reached 28.8 billion lei. In the second half of the year, the GDP growth will be fueled by the increase in agricultural production, the Deputy Prime Minister said. Igor Dodon also said that inflation this year will be at the most 11.5%. The Government is making effort to curb inflation. Due to the steps taken by the Government in the first nine months of the year, the rate of inflation was 6.7% - lower than in many countries of the region. The Government also projects that exports next year will grow by 19% to 2.05 billion lei, while imports by 24% to 6.5 billion lei. Industrial production in current prices will rise to 37.5 billion lei, as against 31.8 billion lei projected for this year. Investment in fixed capital in 2009 will increase by 12% to 25.7 billion lei, as opposed to 20.9 billion lei in 2008. The exchange rate of the national currency in 2009 is expected to be 9.12 lei per US dollar. The average exchange rate projected for 2008 is 10.25 lei per US dollar. The Government anticipates that the average salary in 2009 will rise by 19% to 3,140 lei. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Dodon stressed that these projections are realistic and were used to formulate the state budget law for 2009. At its plenary sitting, the Parliament adopted the draft state budget law for 2009 in first and second readings. It provides for revenues of 17.7 billion lei and a total expenditure of 18.3 billion lei. The deficit is 573 million lei.