The foreign direct investments (FDI) in Romania totaled EUR 2.86 billion in the first eight months of this year, down from EUR 2.96 billion in January-August 2017, according to data released by Romania’s National Bank (BNR).

Equity investments, including estimated net reinvestment of earnings, amounted to EUR 2.52 million and intercompany lending recorded a net value of EUR 346 million.

Romania’s other external indicators also got worse this year. The current account deficit, which measures the difference between the money inflows to Romania and money outflows from the country, reached EUR 5.83 billion in the first eight months, up by 38% compared to 2017, mainly due to the higher trade deficit.

The total external debt also increased by EUR 648 million from end-December 2017 until the end of August 2018, to over EUR 98 billion. The long-term external debt was 1.6% lower, at EUR 67.4 billion, while the short-term component increased by 6.1% in the same period, to EUR 30.6 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com