Foreign direct investments in Romania down to EUR 322 mln in first four months

Foreign direct investments in Romania reached EUR 322 million at the end of April this year, down some 35 percent compared to EUR 494 million recorded in the same period last year, according to the data provided by the Central Bank (BNR). In 2012, the foreign direct investments in Romania declined for the fourth consecutive year, to EUR 1.6 billion. The current account balance of payments had a surplus of EUR 54 million, compared with a deficit of EUR 1.5 billion in the first four months of 2012, mainly due to the decrease in trade balance and income deficits and because the services recorded surplus. The medium and long term external debt was EUR 80 billion at the end of April this year, 2.1 percent over the level recorded at the end of last year, according to BNR. The short-term external debt reached some EUR 20 billion at the end of April this year (20.4 percent of total external debt), up 1.7 percent compared to end-2012. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com