In May Romania attracted a record-high volume of foreign investment, five times higher than the average for the first four months of the year.
In line with the data released by the National Bank of Romania, foreign investment in May was worth 466 million euros, after reaching 485 million euros for the entire January-April period.
This brings the level of foreign investment for the first five months of the year to 951 million euros, almost 12% higher than for the same period last year.
Central bank data also show a positive account of portfolio investments in the first five months with a value of 15 million euros. In the corresponding period of last year, the NBR reported a negative account of portfolio investments of 121 million euros.
The privatisation of the two Electrica branches - Banat and Dobrogea - made a significant contribution in reaching this level. The two branches were taken over by Italian power group Enel in two deals worth a combined 110 million euros.
Recent data from the National Office of the Trade Registry (ONRC) also shows a slight increase for share capital subscribed with foreign-held companies in the first five months of the year - from 616.3 million euros in 2004 to 639.1 million euros.
The data provided by the two institutions that measure foreign investment have never agreed due to the different computing methodologies used, which is why it is difficult to assess the real value of investment at this moment.
