The candidates in Sunday’s Romanian parliamentary elections are greeting signs that the country’s eight-year economic boom may be over with promises of higher spending and lower taxes.

As evidence grows that manufacturers are facing plunging demand, Romanians begin to fear the end of the benign economic environment that has seen growth of about 7.5 per cent this year. Carmaker Dacia, which is owned by France’s Renault, this month announced a three-week suspension of production. François Fourmont, general manager, said: “We saw a brutal fall in orders of 30 per cent in October and it will be down another 50 per cent in November.”