The Economic Crisis Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the midst of wave 4 of the pandemic, the demand for commodities seems unbridled, and the value of stock and real estate assets reaches record after record. On the other hand, container bottlenecks in the world's ports, production syncopes against the background of the crisis of raw materials, components and microprocessors, or the explosion of energy prices in Europe are less bright aspects of the period we are living in. The pandemic is not coming to an end, but since the fall of 2020, when most of the movement restrictions have been lifted, the world's population has pivoted unseen from thrift to excess. Inflation at the end of the year will be more than double compared to the last quarter of 2020, according to the NBR projections. According to some analysts, such as Valentin Tătaru, the chief economist of ING Romania, inflation could reach 6% already this autumn. The injection of money into the economy, in theory, should only begin from now on, after the approval of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The almost EUR 30 billion that would help areas such as health, education, energy, energy, construction and transport over the next six years, as well as the capital market, should be a safety net in the most pessimistic scenarios. However, the labour crisis, the resolution of which is not even in the medium term, is the real time bomb that can undermine economic growth and, by extension, the absorption capacity of European funds. The areas with high shortages of specialists are well known – construction, HoReCa, medical services and technology.