Foreign Direct Investments in Romania Total 7.25 Bln Euro in 2007 - C-Bank

Net credit received from foreign investors accounted for 51% of last year's FDI in the EU newcomer. Equity stakes accounted for 31% and net reinvested earnings made up 18% of the FDI, according to a statistical survey conducted by Romania's central bank, BNR, and the statistics board, INS.

"By economic activity [...] the bulk of FDI went to manufacturing (32.9% of total), out of which the largest recipients were: metallurgy (7.5%), food, beverages and tobacco (5.2%), oil processing, chemicals, rubber and plastics products (4.4%), transport means (3.6%) and cement, glassware, ceramics (3.5%)," the central bank said.

FDI stock in Romania as of 31 December 2007 totalled 42.77 billion euro. Austrian companies accounted for 21.4% of the FDI stock, Dutch companies had a 16.3% share and German companies ranked third with a 11.7% share at the end of the year.

Some 17.3% of last year's FDI inflows went to greenfield investments, 10.5% went to mergers and acquisitions and the remainder was spent for corporate development.

Romania joined the European Union in 2007. The ex-communist state needs substantial foreign investments in order to maintain economic growth, create new jobs and keep in check its mounting current account deficit. Last year, FDI covered less than half of the country's external shortfall of some 17 billion euro.

($=0.7976 euro)