Net investments in the national economy totaled 84 billion lei last year, increasing by 0.8% compared to 2017, according to provisional data published on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

Investments in new construction works decreased by 8.4% to 36.4 billion lei, while those in machinery, including transport, grew by 8.4% to 35.3 billion lei . Other expenses increased by 11.7%, according to Agerpres.

According to the cited source, out of the total investments recorded in 2018, more than one third (34.3%) were registered in industry, 25% in trade and construction, 5.4% in agriculture and 15.2% in other branches .

In terms of the fourth quarter of last year, net investment in the national economy totaled 30.2 billion lei, up 0.8% over the same period of 2017.