PM Dancila: Direct payments timely granted to farmers have meet expectations

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Wednesday that direct payments granted to farmers in a timely manner have produced the expected effects, mentioning that Romania has obtained for the first time more that 10.2 million tonnes in summer wheat crops, with the estimates of autumn crops being encouraging. 

"In the first seven months of the year, Romanian farmers got 2.29 billion euros worth of European funds that were actually invested in agriculture and rural development. By the end of the year, another billion euros will be ploughed into the Romanian agriculture, and this year we will reach 3.29 billion euros of worth of European funds for the financing of agriculture. The results of the good measures in this sector are already evident. As far as the summer harvest is concerned, Romania obtained for the first time more than 10.2 million tonnes of wheat although, as we know, this has not been a good year for agriculture in weather terms," Dancila said at the beginning of a government meeting on Wednesday. 

The prime minister said that estimates of the autumn crops are encouraging, with a beneficial impact on community food security, and also in terms of the weight of this sector and the food industry in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

"Last year, for example, agriculture contributed 0.7 percentage points to achieving Romania's economic growth of 6.9 percent. We are expecting this sector to contribute to a growth in the Gross Domestic Product this year," added Dancila. 

She pointed out that during the first five months of this year Romania recorded a surplus of 150 million euros in its foreign trade in agricultural products, while agriculture making up 8.2 percent of Romania's total exports. 

"That is another reason to support investments in this sector with national and European funds," Dancila said.