In 2004, HVB Bank Austria reported that Romania recorded a GDP growth of 8.5% just behind Latvia (8.7%) at the top of the CEE league table.

Romania’s economy has recently been upgraded to investment grade by Fitch. The Romanian currency has been appreciating against US Dollar, Euro and Pound, providing additional growth potential for investors in Romanian property assets.

Romania’s economy is combining steadily increasing levels of GDP and significantly higher levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) than its near neighbours in 2004 – Romania €3.5bn. – Hungary €2.5bn.  – Slovakia €0.5bn. Inflation at 9.9% in 2004 has been steadily reduced since 2000. CEE economies compared by Creditanstalt – Bank Austria.

The year 2006 will be a year of investment for the Romanian Government and not only
declaratively", said Vice Premier Gheorghe Pogea, ACT Media news agency reports.

The projects will be in infrastructure such as roads and motorways, education, healthcare and justice, Pogea said. " Romania is ready to fund these infrastructure projects,'' said the vice premier. In the last governmental meeting, the public debt ceiling for 2006 was approved, allowing the Ministry of Finance to borrow more than 4.6 billion euros from international markets and 2.7 billion euros (Romanian leu currency equivalent) from the domestic market. The vice premier said that… he will finalize a portfolio with priority investments in Romania's counties.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's financing institution, expects Romanian to enter the European Union on Jan 1, 2007, said EIB's vice-president Wolfgang Roth upon the meeting with PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, ACT Media news agency reports. ''When the exact data of accession will be known, most likely at the European summit in June, from that moment we'll consider Romania as any other partner, as a full-fledged member of the European Union,'' said Roth.

The EIB's vice-president explained that starting from the moment when the European bank will consider Romania as a full-fledged member of the European Union, it would change its policy when it comes to the loans' interest rates. ''The interest rates which the accession countries pay are higher, not very high, but higher, and we will change this policy not after accession, but when the exact data of accession will be decided,'' said Wolfgang Roth.

At the same time, EIB's vice-president said that, following a survey, he realized that out of the ten countries of the latest wave of accession and the two countries due to join the EU, Romania has the lowest foreign debt. ''So watching statistical figures about Romania does not send me cold shiver down my spine,'' said Roth. He said that the European Investment Bank would like to finance in the future projects based on the public-private partnership, adding that they will be done under better conditions than the ones of the International Monetary Fund. Since 1990, Romania has been allotted from the EIB loans worth 6.26 billion euros. The funds were mainly used for infrastructure projects, health and education.

Another promising development for Romanian real estate is created by the construction of a new 2 billion EURO super-highway being realized with the financial backing of the EU. This new super-highway built with the technology of the American firm contracted to complete it by the year 2010-12 will dramatically change the face of Romania. It will cut the travel time between Bucharest and major European cities down significantly and literally create new major destinations in Romania, overnight.