September 2 (SeeNews) - Romania’s infrastructure spending is seen growing by an average of 5.0% per year between 2013 and 2025, faster than in Western Europe but slower than the global average, global consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Tuesday.
According to a report prepared by PwC and Oxford Economics, Romania's infrastructure market is expected to reach around $30 billion (22.8 billion euro) by 2025, the consultancy said in a statement. The report - Capital project and infrastructure spending: Outlook to 2025 - analyses capital projects and infrastructure spending across 49 of the world’s largest economies.
“Romania’s infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure, is still in much need of improvement, which explains the substantial increase in roads spending in recent years," Daniel Anghel, leader of the service team for the public sector, PwC Romania, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Road spending is expected to continue as a priority during the European economic recovery. Aided in part by EU funding, investment in roads is forecast to continue to take the lion’s share of transportation investment, rising from $4.5 billion in 2013 to just shy of $9.0 billion by 2025, he added.
Romania’s heavy industrial sector looks well placed to compete against higher-cost neighbours. Investment in these sectors boomed in the years running up to the country’s accession into the EU before pausing during the eurozone crisis. PwC expects investment to rebound in the country's chemicals, metals and fuels sectors to $4.5 billion by 2025 from $2.3 billion in 2013.
Social spending will likely also be a priority, with healthcare spending growing by around 0.5% per year, faster than education spending as Romania’s population ages, albeit at a slower rate than in Western European countries. Total social infrastructure spending is expected to reach $10 billion a year by 2025.
($ = 0.7615 euro)