The current account deficit for Romania dropped to nearly 12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008, according to preliminary figures, as the private sector began the adjustment much earlier than expected, Governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu said on Friday.

The Romanian current account deficit in 2007 was 14 percent of the GDP, with some analysts predicting the current account gap might have widened to 18 percent in 2008.

"I said we have no alternative to adjusting the current account deficit. The entire program of economic policies, be it the former or the current government's, should be focused on this adjustment, that should not be made by the market forces only, since it will be a lot more painful," Isarescu noted.

The central bank governor added that there should be "burden sharing" between the private sector, that began the adjustment earlier, and the public sector that recorded a deficit of more than 5 percent of the GDP in 2008.

Chief Economist of the Romanian Commercial Bank Lucian Anghel said recently that the current account deficit keeps on being the main danger Romania faces this year, adding that "our estimates of the current account gap in 2009 point to a level of 9.4 percent of GDP."

"This will remain a pretty important issue, one on which the central bank will also focus as a macroeconomic indicator," Anghel said.