The net investments in Romania’s economy increased by 4.1% to over RON 46.5 billion (EUR 10.3 billion) in the first nine months of this year, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INS).

Investment in machinery, including vehicles, went up by 6.6%, and investment in construction work increased by 4.5% while other investment dropped by 7.1%.

However, in the third quarter, the total investments dropped by 0.3% year-on-year, to RON 17.7 billion (EUR 3.9 billion). Investment in construction, which stand for about half of the total amount in the third quarter, dropped by 5.4%. Investment in machinery also went down by almost 1% and other investment dropped by 19.2%.

The decline in investments was also a cause for the economy’s slowdown in the third quarter, alongside the lower increase in retail sales.

editor@romania-insider.com