Romania has an extensive experience in the management of trade changes, in the field of taxation as well as financial, banking and labour market as a result of continuous economic restructuring and the transition period.

Like many countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Romania had been struggling to turn its command economy into a market economy.

Successive governments have found it difficult to turn the economy around because of a lack of hard currency and the inability to secure external funds due to the country’s high budget deficits. Much of this deficit accrued from financing loss-making state industries.

Old economic and financial structures have been slow to change, similar to the bureaucratic culture inherent in many old institutions. In the last six years, the overall business climate has constantly improved and economic indicators look healthier.

Region: Eastern Europe & Central Asia Income category: Upper middle income
Population: 21,449,980 (2011) GNI per capita (USD): 7,840

• Romania ranks 72ndout of 183 economies in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2012, reflecting a decrease by 7 points compared to last year. This decrease reflects a 32 point decline in the Starting a Business indicator and a 23 point decline in the Trading Across Borders indicator.
• According to the latest Enterprise Survey (2009), the top 3 obstacles faced by firms in Romania are Tax Rates, an Inadequately Educated Workforce and Access to Finance. Only 42.3% of firms have a line of credit or loans from a financial institution, compared to the regional average of 43.7%.
• The Doing Business 2013
• According to the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Report (2010), Romania is ranked between the 50th and 60th percentile for most of the indicators, including Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, Control of Corruption, and the Political Stability indicators. For Regulatory Quality, Romania is above the 70th percentile.
• Romania’s economic freedom score is 64.4, making its economy the 62nd freest in the 2012 Index. Its score is 0.3 point worse than last year, reflecting deterioration in freedom from corruption, business freedom, and the management of government spending. Romania is ranked 28th out of 43 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is higher than the world average.*

* Source: The Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom

For further information about Business environment, kindly refer to Doing Business section.