1980s austerity policy in Romania

This article is part of a series about Nicolae Ceaușescu
Personal Early life Family Trial and execution Political affiliations PCR FDP FDUS Governmental positions General Secretary President of State Council President of Romania Government and politics De-satellization Decree 770 1968 speech Patriotic Guards Systematization Ceaușima rural Danube Program Austerity policy 1986 military referendum Political ideology National communism Dacianism Cult of personality July Theses Opposition Dissent Goma's letters 1977 miners strike SLOMR 1984 coup attempt Brașov Rebellion Letter of the Six Romanian revolution Elections 1967 1974 1980 1985 Legacy Centrul Civic Palace of the Parliament
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Part of a series on the
Socialist Republic of Romania
Organizations Communist Party Securitate Army Union of Communist Youth Great National Assembly State Council Patriotic Guards National Council of Women Pioneers Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy Romanian Orthodox Church Scînteia People's Democratic Front Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy Comturist
Leaders Constantin Ion Parhon Petru Groza Ana Pauker Ion Gheorghe Maurer Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Apostol Chivu Stoica Nicolae Ceaușescu Manea Mănescu Ilie Verdeț Elena Ceaușescu
Ideology Dacianism July Theses Neo-Stalinism National communism Ceaușescu's cult of personality
Policies Collectivization Nationalization Literacy campaigns Five-Year Plans De-Stalinization Decree 770 Systematization (Rural) 1980s austerity
Culture Daciad Cîntarea României Cenaclul Flacăra Obsessive decade Socialist realism Emblem Flag
Repression Censorship Danube–Black Sea Canal Re-education Bărăgan deportations Tămădău Affair Pitești prison Sighet prison
Protests and resistance 1940s–1950s resistance Bucharest student movement of 1956 Dissent under Nicolae Ceaușescu Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 SLOMR Brașov Rebellion Letter of the Six Romanian Revolution Trial and execution of the Ceaușescus
Relationship with the USSR Soviet occupation (1944–1958) SovRom De-satellization
Relations with other states China Italy North Korea Soviet Union Yugoslavia
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In the 1980s, severe austerity measures were imposed in the Socialist Republic of Romania by President Nicolae Ceaușescu in order to pay out the external debt incurred by the state in the 1970s. Beginning in 1981, the austerity led to economic stagnation that continued all throughout the 1980s, a "sui generis shock therapy" which lowered the competitiveness of the Romanian economy and decreased the amount of exports.^[1]

Although the measure helped pay off the debt, the harsh austerity measures negatively affected the living standards of the Romanians, increased shortages^[1] and eventually led to the execution of Nicolae Ceaușescu and collapse of the Romanian Communist Party through the Romanian Revolution in December 1989.