Economists on the nomination of Lucian Croitoru for Prime Minister

What�s next for the designated PM?

According to Art 103, the President of Romania shall designate a candidate for Prime Minister, after consultations with the majority party. If no party has a majority, the consultations will be held with the parties that hold seats in the parliament.

Moreover, the person designated for government leadership and the newly-formed government in its entirety shall be subject to a vote of confidence put before the parliament. The Government and its plan are debated by the lower and the upper houses of the parliament.

Under the Constitution, Croitoru will have to come before the Parliament together with the newly-formed cabinet until October 26.

Lucian Croitoru said he would start negotiations with the political parties today for constituting a new government.

“I plan on starting the negotiations as soon as possible, as of tomorrow I’ll be working on this”, said Croitoru, adding that at this point meetings with the political parties have not yet been confirmed.

Technically and economically, Croitoru is better qualified than Klaus Johannis

The fact that Lucian Croitoru is adviser at the central bank, one of the institutions that enjoy great credibility in Romania and lauded by international institutions, is one of the advantages he has versus Klaus Johannis, says Dragos Cabat, chairman of the Association of Financial Analysts.

“Lucian Croitoru has the ability to establish connections between fiscal, budget and monetary policies of the central bank, and this is extremely important. From a technical and economic perspective, he is better qualified for the job than Klaus Johannis and he also inspires confidence,” Dragos Cabat told Wall-Street.

The Chairman of the Association of Financial Analysts added he didn’t know about Lucian Croitoru’s management skills, but being IMF’s representative in several countries stands proof of his skills.

But the Parliament’s final decision will be purely political. “Over the last few days, we’ve played a political chess game. The decision on his election has nothing to do with how trained the candidates are, it is all about their political games”, Dragos Cabat concluded.

�Romania needs an economist at the PM chair�

Laurian Lungu (photo), managing partner at Macroanalitica describes Lucian Croitoru as a committed professional, a credible person to international institutions and with extensive experience with the International Monetary Fund.

“Lucian Croitoru has a comprehensive economic vision, a vision that Romania needs desperately at this moment, and the Parliament is likely to give its vote of confidence. Even though the odds to receive the vote of the Parliament are short today, things can change in the next days. We see political coalitions forming and collapsing over night, so anything can change”, said Lungu.

As for the new government, Laurian Lungu says Lucian Croitoru, as a professional, should encourage professionals, whether they are independent or affiliated to a political party.

Nicolae Alexandru Chidesciuc, senior economist at ING Bank Romania sees Lucian Croitoru as a qualified specialist and “at this point, Romania needs a Prime Minister with a broad economic background”.

However, ING Bank’s senior economist stressed that should the political warfare continue or even escalate, economic crisis would deepen further rather than ease.