Foreign direct investments in Romania down 28.9 percent in H1

Newsroom 13/08/2012 | 08:43

Non-residents’ direct investment in Romania amounted to EUR 621 million in the first semester of 2012 down by 28.9 percent y-o-y , according to data published today by Romania’s central bank.

This covered 25.8 percent of the current account deficit in the first half of 2012. Out of the total figure, equity stakes consolidated with the estimated net loss amounted to EUR 280 million and intra-group loans to EUR 341 million, according to the same source.

In January – June 2012, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 2,411 million, 29.4 percent lower from the same year-ago period. The drop was generated by an increase in the current transfers surplus (EUR 224 million) and in the services surplus (EUR 218 million), as well as to the decrease in the income deficit (EUR 525 million) and in the trade deficit (EUR 39 million).

Medium- and long-term external debt at end-June 2012 stood at EUR 77,773 million (78.5 percent of total external debt), 2.9 percent above the level recorded at end-2011.

Short-term external debt at end-June 2012 totaled EUR 21,267 million (21.5 percent of total external debt), down 6.8 percent from end-2011.

Medium- and long-term external debt service ratio ran at 26.8 percent in January – June 2012, against 28.3 percent in 2011. At end-June 2012, goods and services import cover stood at 7.6 months, as compared to 7.5 months at end-2011.

Simona Bazavan