The Romanian economy shrank 4.6 percent in first quarter 2009 compared with the previous three months, official data showed on Tuesday, confirming that the country had entered a recession. Romanian gross domestic product contracted 3.4 percent in the final quarter of 2008, according to the statistics institute Ins.
Recession is traditionally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The agency said the agriculture sector registered a 7.6 percent decline in activity in the first quarter and the industrial sector 1.4 percent. Compared with first quarter 2008 the momentum declined by 6.2 percent in the same period this year. The International Monetary Fund recently approved a 12.9-billion-euro (18-billion-dollar) loan for Romania, forecasting a 4.1 percent contraction in the economy this year.