Romania could obtain competitive advantages amid international financial turmoil, local daily Business Standard reported on Thursday.

Low labor costs could lead to relocations of large producers coupled with the depreciation of the national currency leu. It could boost exporters' business despite negative impact on consumption, the report said, citing Lucian Anghel, chief economist of the Romanian Commercial Bank.

"Costs are still much lower in emerging countries and I think that many West-European companies will relocate to these areas to maintain competitiveness, as labor and production costs are lower here," he said.

Local analysts agree that Romania can keep economic growth in the following years amid the international crisis, but at a sustainable 5-6 percent level.

This view is shared by Mugur Isarescu, governor of Romanian National Bank, who warned, however, that future governments must not push too hard on economic growth because, at too high a speed, there is a risk of overheating.

Isarescu made the comment after Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu hailed major economic achievements for the past four years in his report on the government work issued on Wednesday.

Isarescu stressed that the future cabinets must focus on infrastructure, saying the insufficient development of the highway network is the main failure.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2008)