Time passed in a hurry, and 1915 also came to an end.

However, the war in Europe shows no signs of subsidence, and all the participating countries are preparing for the coming year. Both the Entente and the Central Powers will see next year as a decisive year. The Allied camp, in particular, was even stronger this year, as Romania provided them with the necessities of life and military supplies.

However, this strength is also a rapid drain on its domestic wealth. In the year and a half since the start of the war, 2.43 billion marks of goods have been purchased from Romania alone, and Romania is now the largest importer of Germany and Austria. With such a high import value, a large amount of wealth from Germany and Austria-Hungary was transferred to Romania, and the Romanian economy prospered.

Now, as long as there is money, one person can make money, which is basically to follow the flow of production of materials needed by the allies. Now Romania produces as much as the Allies procure, and there is no need to worry about sales at all. Those wealthy German-Austrian businessmen waved checks and made purchases in Romania, so now the Romanian economy is completely supported by German-Austrian purchases.

As for Russia on the other side, it is a pity that now Russia does not have the financial resources to make large-scale purchases from Romania. Just picking up the purchase of critical materials, these are not large amounts. Because the Russian government is still counting on large-scale material assistance after the Entente troops landed on the Dardanelles to defeat the Ottomans. They are not currently interested in the fact that Romania has set a price tag higher.

However, some far-sighted businessmen have seen the hidden dangers behind this economic boom. While earning profits from Germany and Austria, they began to think about the end of the war. But at present, Romania can only trade with Germany and Austria, because the Black Sea straits are currently impassable, and Romanian goods cannot be shipped.

However, by the end of the year, the Romanian economy, which relied entirely on German and Austrian procurement, had reached a new level. According to government statistics, Romania's gross national product (GDP) reached 9.673 billion lei, an increase of 26.5% over the previous year.

Thanks to the strong demand from Austria-Hungary, grain exports regained Romania's position as the number one export category. A large part of them are based on the mushrooming grain processing factories in Romania. These mills make a profit from low-value grain, processed food, or semi-finished products. Today, 85% of the foreign food products on the German and Austrian markets are produced in Romania. It is these large and small grain processing plants that have pushed grain and its deep-processed products to the first major export category.

The second largest category of Romanian exports continues to be petroleum and its chemicals. Thanks to the fact that a large number of vehicles in Germany and Austria are used for military transportation, and the traditional American oil cannot be imported in the past, so Romanian oil can only be purchased. Oil is still a strong source of Romanian exports this year, and the gap between the total amount of oil and grain is not too large, only 40 million lei.

This year, automobile exports fell to the third place, including the closure of the Black Sea straits, which caused the automobile manufacturing industry to lose the market in western and southern Europe. And because Germany and Austria import high-priced oil, it further suppressed the desire of the two countries to buy vehicles. Now the main force of Romania's automobile manufacturing industry, Volkswagen is now not as rich as before. It can only produce trucks at low speeds, and at the same time sell some auto parts to relieve the pressure on the company. At present, the number of employees at Volkswagen's factory has dropped from 87,000 at its peak to 79,000 now. If it weren't for the rapid wear and tear of battlefield vehicles, the automobile manufacturing industry would almost not be able to maintain its third position.

Germany and Austria prospered Romania's contribution in large quantities, and Prime Minister Bletianu also contributed a lot. So at the end of the year, in recognition of the Prime Minister's merits, Eder personally awarded him the Knight of the Royal Order. At the time of the presentation of the medal, the Chief of the General Staff, General Prisan, and the Minister of Army, General Courtois, were also present to congratulate the Prime Minister. This is Eder's attempt to ease the relationship between the government and the military, which has been a bit stiff because of the cost of the militia.

Of course, if Romania's economic momentum rises violently, then the growth of government revenue will not slow down. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Finance, in 1915, Romania's fiscal revenue reached an all-time high of 1.24 billion lei, an increase of 27.4% over the previous year.

Customs revenue is still the largest tax in Romania, which shows the importance of exports to Romania, which is what Eder fears. Because the current population of 10 million people in the country is completely unable to allow the industry to develop and grow. The lack of a population to support the economy will become the most urgent problem for Romania to solve after the war.

So, with the exception of Transylvania and Bessarabia, where Romanians are in the majority. The seizure of more territory from the collapsed Austria-Hungary and Russia would become the primary goal of Romania in the future. Among them, the rich Ukrainian granary, Romania also needs a part.

In addition to the customs tax, which has always been the first high, the second largest tax that has been in place since five years ago is the industrial and commercial tax. Especially in recent years, the proportion of industrial and commercial tax in tax revenue has gradually increased. It is now close to 85% of the customs tariff, making it the second largest tax collector in Romania.

In addition to these two taxes, then there are agricultural taxes, personal income tax, value-added tax, and so on. Fiscal revenue, in addition to various taxes, of course, there are other incomes. For example, the profits of state-owned enterprises, the income from land, and so on. These are powerful supplements to government revenues, especially the profits paid by state-owned enterprises, which account for the bulk of supplementary revenues.

At present, the Constanta Iron and Steel Plant, the Romanian Chemical Plant, and a number of state-owned enterprises that have relied on German loans have developed and expanded. This is despite the fact that these state-owned enterprises have factors such as bloated enterprises, poor management, and slow market response. However, thanks to the rapid development of the Romanian economy, these companies have grown.

For example, the Constanta steel plant, from the very beginning, 2,400 employees, 62.5 million lei. It now has 5,800 employees and assets of 165 million lei. This is all because there is only one steel mill in Romania, and the steel produced by it is completely dependent on the protection of tariffs. Therefore, in Romania, the products of the Constanta steel plant have always been the main ones used in various industries. Other steel mills are in perfect competition, but the government-backed Constanta steel plant.

In fact, in addition to good economic development in Romania this year, it has also invested a lot of money in people's livelihood. There have been significant improvements in health care, education, transportation, security, etc., all of which are relevant to the population, so the Romanian people are now looking forward to the future. This is also very beneficial for Eder's future plans.

PS； Sorry for the lateness, this chapter hurts my head, it's completely a white paper on Romania's economic development, it's so hard to write. ()

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