Investments in economy - down 16.7 pc in six months

The investments made in the national economy decreased by 16.7 per cent in the first six months, compared to the same period of the past year, to RON 27.068 bln, at current prices, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) shows. The decline from the second quarter was 29 per cent. "The investments materialized in new constructions in the first half of the year 2009 totaled RON 14.033 bln, accounting for 51.9 per cent of the total, against 46.2 per cent in the first half of 2008. The investments in equipment and transport means totaled RON 10.694 bln (39.5 per cent of the total, vs. 47.7 per cent in the first half 2008)," reads an INS press release. The sectors in which a big volume of investments was made are industry and trade/services, such as real estate transactions, retail trade and wholesale, or the repair of motor vehicles. In the second quarter, the investments made in the national economy decreased by 29 per cent vs. the same period of 2008, to RON 14.008 bln. "Compared to the second quarter 2008, in the second quarter 2009 we see a fall of the weight of the equipment (transport means included) in the total investments by 14.1 percentage points. The weight of the investments in the new constructions increased by 10.6 percentage points, while that of the investments in other expenditures by 3.5 percentage points," the press release also shows.

Industrial production prices dropped in July, after three months of growth

The prices of the industrial production, on the total domestic and foreign markets, dropped in July by 0.3 per cent vs. the previous month, after three consecutive months of growth, and are 1.4 per cent smaller than in July 2008, INS also announced yesterday. Thus, in July, compared to the previous month, the prices of the industrial production on the internal market decreased by 0.3 per cent, while those on the foreign market by 0.6 per cent. "By sectors of activity, price rises were registered by water distribution; sanitation, waste management, decontamination activities, by 1.8 per cent, and the products from the mining industry, by 0.4 per cent, respectively the production and supply of electricity and thermal energy, gas, warm water and air conditioning, by 0.4 per cent. The prices of the products from the processing industry decreased by 0.6 per cent. Compared to July 2008, the fall was 1.4 per cent. Also, according to INS data, 1,248 more dwellings units were finalized in the first half year than in the first six months of 2008, rising to 23,501, most of them in the urban environment.

Romania - 4th in EU in terms of second quarter economic decline

Romania ranks 4th in the European Union in terms of the economic fall, 8 per cent, in the second quarter, compared to the year-earlier interval, twice steeper than the EU average of 4.7 per cent, according to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat). Poland is the only country of the 18 EU members in the Eurostat report that posted a positive economic development, 1.4 per cent, during April-June, against the year-earlier period. The most drastic reductions in Growth Domestic Product (GDP) were registered by Lithuania (20.4 per cent), Latvia (18.2 per cent) and Estonia (16.6 per cent). Greece posted a small economic decline, 0.2 per cent, in April-June of this year, followed by Cyprus (0.7 per cent) and France (2.6 per cent) German economy, Europe's strongest, fell 5.9 per cent, Italy and Sweden saw declines of 6 per cent and 6.3 per cent, and the UK and Spain of 5.5 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively.

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