Romania has more than USD 3 billion available for public investments and these should be spent by the end of the year, said Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

His statement comes after Romania’s economy went into technical recession in the second quarter of this year, mainly due to the lack of public investment.

“I think that the 2% of GDP we have to spend by the end of this year is a big sum, more than USD 3 billion, and that this capital, once invested in the economy will generate development,” Ponta said.

He added that both the business environment and the Government should see why public investments which have available funding are taking so long.

The Government’s capital expenditures were just EUR 1.33 billion (USD 1.73 billion), which is only 5% of the state’s total expenditures. Public investments were down 29% compared to the same period of 2013.

editor@romania-insider.com