January 22 (SeeNews) - CFA Romania, an association of investment professionals, said on Tuesday that the state of the country's economy is expected to worsen in the next 12 months.
CFA analysts' expectations regarding the economic situation in Romania in the next 12 months fell by 18.8 points to 19.9 points in December, CFA said in a monthly survey.
The macroeconomic confidence indicator also fell by 15.6 points month-on-month to 28.7 points in December, influenced by the negative perception of the current economic situation - an indicator which fell by 9.1 points on the month to 46.4 points in December.
The CFA analysts said they expect, on average, inflation of 3.93% in the year ending in October 2019.
Romania's annual consumer price inflation decelerated to 3.27% in December from 3.43% in the previous month, data from the national statistical office, INS, showed.
The CFA analysts expect an exchange rate of 4.7168 lei ($1.2/ 1.01 euro) per euro in the next six months and 4.7883 lei per euro in 2019.
The Romanian leu started to lose ground against the euro at the beginning of January and has continued to weaken, reaching its lowest historical point at 4.7142 lei per euro on Tuesday, according to central bank data.
The CFA Society Romania Macroeconomic Confidence Index, first released by CFA Society Romania in May 2011, represents an indicator that aims at quantifying financial analysts' expectations regarding economic activity in Romania for a time horizon of one year.
The index takes values between 0 (no confidence) and 100 (complete confidence in the Romanian economy) and is calculated based on six questions regarding current conditions of business and labour market; expectations about business, labour market, personal income and personal wealth.
(1 euro =4.7142 lei)