Romania is the only country in the EU 10 - including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia - that is still in recession in the third quarter of 2010, shows the Economic Report on the EU 10 made public by the World Bank in Warsaw and Bucharest.

Chief economist of the World Bank Office in Bucharest, Catalin Pauna explained at a news conference called to launch the Report, that 'In 2010, Romania will register an economic drop of minus 1.9 percent, according to the Report predictions, due to the effects of the governmental austerity programme.

This programme was direly necessary, given that when Romania entered the crisis, it was the country with the biggest structural tax deficit and the main problems of the Romanian economy are of a structural nature, but the austerity programme was begun late. If the programme had started earlier, we should already have seen growth', Pauna explained, adding that a major challenge is related to the public spending efficiency.

'There has been sustained increase in the public expenditure in the last ten years, but a proportionate improvement of the results of such expenditure failed to emerge', the World Bank official stressed.

According to the World Bank predictions, the Romanian economy will grow by 1.5 percent in 2011, while the EU 10 countries will return to the pre-crisis levels.