BUCHAREST: The International Monetary Fund expects a strong economic recovery in Europe this year after a 6% contraction in 2020, with Romania outpacing emerging Europe's average growth, IMF's European department director Alfred Kammer said on Friday.

"Growth is projected at 4.0% for emerging Europe. For Romania we project that after contracting by about 5 percent in 2020, it will expand by a bit more than the emerging-Europe average," Kammer told a virtual seminar hosted by Romania's central bank.