World Bank: More than a quarter of Romania’s population lives with USD 5.5 per day

The development of Romania in the past years has evinced great differences within the country, two Romanias exist today, the World Bank representatives warned on Wednesday.

They say that one Romania is dynamic, urban, integrated with the EU and the other one is rural, poor and isolated, given that more than a quarter of the population lives with USD 5.5 per day, whereas corruption remains a huge problem.

The WB representatives said that, in the past years, the GDP per capita has grown to 59% of the EU average and is still growing (in 1996 the ratio was 30%). More than 70% of Romania’s exports have as destination the EU countries, cotidianul.ro reports.

Nevertheless, Romania is still the country with the highest share of people living below the poverty line, WB Chief Economist, Donato de Rosa, said.

The World Bank representative said corruption remains a huge problem, which reduces the state’s credibility and directs the public funds in the wrong way, whereas the public sector faces great difficulties in implementing reforms and long-term plans. He also mentioned the often amendments to the Tax Code.

The World Bank warned that corruption is a result of the state’s profound structural deficiencies, obvious deficiencies in the interaction between the state, on one side, and the business environment on the other side.