The absorption rate of European funds could exceed 60% this year, BCR analysts deem.

The absorption of European funds could advance over 60 percent this year after last year it stood at 21 percent, according to a study carried out by analysts with Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) the largest bank by assets.

The number of projects approved in the seven operational programs increased significantly, according to results issued by the Economy and Finance Ministry (MEF), reaching 249 projects worth 2.08 billion euros, out of which 1.77 billion euros were European funds.

A good absorption of these funds could generate an additional economic growth of 15-20 percent in the period 2007 – 2013, analysts with BCR deem. Romania sponged European funds of 30 billion euros for 2007-2013; the main target is rural development through infrastructure investments.

About 23.8 percent of the European funds were assigned within operational programs for transportation infrastructure, about 23.5 percent for environment infrastructure, 19.4 percent for regional development, 18.1 percent for human resources development, 13.3 percent for economic competitiveness and 0.9 percent for technical assistance, MEF said.

European funds can also produce major changes for Romanian villages, making modern agriculture accessible, focusing on the market's demand and to processing industry, which will attract many employees in the rural area, the study shows.

However, BCR's analysts also mention possible negative effects like continuing an accelerated process to align salaries at the European average, which could pave the way to losing a competitive advantage of the Romanian industry. Thus some economic alternatives in the rural area will hike the standards of living and will make Romanians working abroad to return home.