More Than 75% Of Romanians Affected By Crisis - Study

Over a quarter of Romanian men, but significantly fewer women, were unaffected by the crisis, according to the study conducted in the second half of March.

Nine out of ten entrepreneurs were negatively influenced by the crisis, which affected 55% of university-educated managers or employees. The latter figure is expected to rise, partly because of the cost-cutting measures taken in the public sector, said Mircea Kivu, Mercury Research operations manager.

People between jobs have been severely impacted by the crisis, with 95% feeling its negative effects.

Around 66% of Romanians are more concerned with their financial situation than six months ago, a lower share compared to March 2009, but still higher than the November 2008 level, when Romania was just beginning to feel the crisis' effects and only 53% expressed their concern.

Romanians' main worries are being unable to retain their lifestyle (40%), lower incomes (39%) and whether or not they can cope with current expenses (38%), says the study. Some 15% of Romanians older than 18 are worried they will be unable to repay their loans, while 14% say they will not be able to save up or invest as in previous years.

With regard to the banks' financial stability in the next quarter, the share of people who believe things will get worse has decreased compared to last year, to 40% from 61%. More than a quarter say banks will be just as stable, while 13% think there will even be an improvement over the next quarter.

Mercury Research questioned 1,177 people aged over 18 between March 15 and April 1, 2010 for its study "Financial CrisisMeter," which contains data as early as November 2008.

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