6.9% higher investments in H1

Investments poured into the Romanian economy during the first half of this year totalled 82,647.1 billion ROL (about 2.3 billion euros), representing a 6.9% progress from the same period of last year. According to the National Statistics Institute, investments in new construction works stood at 34,525.9 billion ROL (41.8% of the total volume), 3.9% higher as compared to the corresponding period of last year. At the same time, investments in machinery and vehicles reached 39,398.8 billion ROL (47.7% of the total) and were 13.8% above the level in the first half of last year. Investments in the private sector accounted for 65.1% of the total volume, rising 13.1% as compared to the first half of 2002. They were mainly used for the acquisition of machinery and vehicles, which accounted for 55.7% of the volume of investments made. Industrial production in the first seven months of this year rose 3.3% against the same period of last year, amid a significant increase registered by the processing and energy industries. ZF