Romania 2008 FDI Up 31% On Year To EUR9.5B

11.02.2009 ZF English

Foreign direct investments (FDI) in Romania rose 31% on the year to EUR9.5 billion in 2008, revised data from the central bank showed Monday.

Earlier data put Romania's FDI at EUR9.02 billion at the end of last year.

In a joint survey with the country's statistics institute INS, the central bank said 51.3% of the FDI in 2008 were equity stakes, while the remainder represented net credit received from investors.

Overall FDI stock stood at EUR48.8 billion at the end of 2008, the survey noted. Equity stakes, including reinvested earnings, were at EUR34.9 billion (71.5% of net FDI final stock), while total net credit received from foreign investors, intra-group included, reached EUR13.9 billion (28.5% of net FDI final stock).

Broken down by economic activities, 31.3% of the total FDI stock was recorded in the manufacturing industry, while another chunk of 20.5% went to financial intermediation and insurance sector.

Construction and real estate covered 12.6% of the total FDI stock at the end of 2008, while trade and informational and communications sectors accounted for 12.4% and 6.7% of the stock, respectively.

Austria was the largest foreign investor in Romania, with total investments reaching 18.8% of the total FDI stock in 2008. However, Austrian investments were down from 21.4% of the total FDI in 2007, the survey showed.

The Netherlands followed on the second spot, with investments amounting to 17.2% of the total FDI last year, followed by Germany, whose contribution was at 15.4% of the FDI stock.