The review of the economic data for the year 2024 by the National Institute of Statistics triggered a harsh reaction from the former Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who accuses the current Government of trying to rewrite the economic reality to mask the current problems. The social democrat claims that the new figures, which appeared two years apart, are unprecedented and launches direct attacks on Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
Marcel Ciolacu states that the INS revisions create a situation “nebula” and ironizes the fact that, according to the new data, Romania would have gone through the recession without the population having felt its effects.
“To discover, after two years, that in fact Ciolacu had two quarters of decline and four quarters of growth. It’s a nebulous situation two years ago. Gentlemen, since the news came out, I’ve been sitting with the phone in my hand, because I think someone is going to call me to give me an award in the economy. We all went through the recession and we didn’t feel, on the contrary, we were fine, we had jobs, we had consumption. Now it’s consumption collapsed. We are unique in the world: a state, a country went through a recession and we didn’t feel it. Romanians are sensible people, but let’s not feel the recession that would have hit us like crazy?”said Marcel Ciolacu.
The former prime minister claims to have official documents issued by the INS in 2024, which presented a different economic picture than the one resulting from recent revisions.
“For the first time in history, the first time in the history of Romania, after two years the figures are being revised. No one has heard of such a thing. I allow myself to have the paper with me with what the National Institute of Statistics said then when it referred to the quarters that, meanwhile, from plus became minus. The first time I said that we had an economic growth of 0.4%. They came and corrected me and said that we had 0.7%. (…) Now I’m coming, after two years, and I say it wasn’t on the plus side, it was on the minus side”, he declared.
Ciolacu accuses the current Executive of using state institutions to “cover up” current economic problems and demands public explanations regarding the radical change in data.
“Let the great specialists from the Government come out. I kindly ask them to leave the state institutions alone, to do their work and not to try to cover up, using the state institutions, the misery they have brought us into. Let the National Institute of Statistics, which praised me, explain to me how it comes after two years with these data. I think there are problems during the time of Ponta, Dăncilă and all the prime ministers. I say to him: Ilie, shut up and tell people the truth.”
Accusations of “dressed data” and statistical manipulation
The discontent of the former prime minister is not an isolated one. As early as Friday, February 13, Marcel Ciolacu publicly claimed that the economic data for 2024 would have been artificially adjusted to turn economic growth into a recession, with the aim of diminishing the impact of the current problems.
“They fashioned, after two years, the data of 2024, turning economic growth into recession just to try to blur the economic disaster of Bolojan’s mandate! This is the grossest manipulation of statistics that demonstrates the despair of the current prime minister, after the decrease of the economy in the last quarter, of almost 2%, is four times greater than the expectations of all analysts”wrote Marcel Ciolacu, on Friday, in a post on Facebook.
Romania went through a period of technical recession since 2024, during the government led by Marcel Ciolacu. The information came to light only now, after the National Institute of Statistics (INS) recalculated the seasonally adjusted data series, the phenomenon being categorized by the INS as having occurred “post-factum”.
At the time, the data published by the INS indicated a positive, albeit modest, trajectory that allowed the Ciolacu Government to carry out record increases in pensions and salaries. The statistics indicated a weak economic growth of about 0.1% compared to the previous quarter and about 0.8% compared to the same period of the previous year.
The data updated on Friday by the INS indicate that, in reality, the economy contracted in the first two quarters of 2024, with decreases of -0.4%, thus marking a technical recession.
Economists don’t believe in manipulating numbers
In the opinion of the economist Bogdan Glăvan, the adjustment operated by the INS is not necessarily something out of the ordinary, being a normal revision in other states as well.
“I am cautious and skeptical of the idea that they mean anything other than simple statistical revisions. And in the US, if we look at the reporting, there are considerable historical corrections. It is not a strategy to mystify the economy. It is simply revised data that more accurately shows us reality.” explained Bogdan Glăvan for “Adevărul”.
Ilie Bolojan: “It’s not a crisis, but the cost of a change in the economic model”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan claims that the economic setback does not indicate a structural crisis, but represents the effect of a deliberate transition from a model based on consumption and deficit to one focused on investment and production.
“Romania’s economic growth in 2025 was 0.6%, in the conditions of the rapid change, in only 6 months, of the economic model that took us with our backs to the wall. We started the transition from a model based on deficit and consumption, apparently generating prosperity, but in fact destructive, to a model based on investments, productivity, export and budgetary discipline”, declared Ilie Bolojan.
The Head of Government states that this correction was anticipated and inevitable.
“The temporary technical recession is part of the anticipated and inevitable cost of this transition, which will ultimately lead us to a solid economy, healthy growth and real prosperity based on what we produce, not through more and more expensive borrowing.” added the prime minister.
Comparison with the year 2024 and criticism of the Ciolacu government
Ilie Bolojan puts the current situation in direct relation to the year 2024, when the Executive was led by Marcel Ciolacu. The Prime Minister shows that, despite massive budget expenditures, the economy has grown weakly, and the INS revisions indicate that Romania would have entered a technical recession since then.
“2024 was an atypical year. We had a high budget deficit of almost 8-9% of GDP, a significant external deficit of 8.2% of GDP, and yet modest real economic growth of less than 1%. Normally, such a fiscal stimulus should have generated much stronger growth. This did not happen.” explained the prime minister.
According to him, the money was misdirected.
“An important part of the money spent in 2024 was directed towards current consumption, rigid expenses and the compensation of some social and inflationary pressures, not towards the real development of the economy. (…) In other words, in 2024 we spent a lot, but we grew a little”, Bolojan specified.
The reaction of the president Nicușor Dan
President Nicușor Dan called for calm and balance in the interpretation of economic data.
“The economy suffered a contraction of 2% because consumption was reduced. (…) We have reasons for optimism. We have a solid private economy. European funds will generate development”the head of state wrote.
