Investments down 1.8% year-on-year in Q1 2020
The volume of investments was 1.8% lower in the first quarter of 2020, than in the same period of the previous year, according to data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).
The decreasing utilization of EU funds also contributed to the relapse of investments, KSH notes.
Investments rose 2.8% year-on-year within construction, which represents about 55% of the total volume of investments. Investments in machinery and equipment, representing 43% of the total value of investments, decreased by 7%.
Investment performance in the case of enterprises employing at least 50 people and realizing 58% of investments increased at a rate below the average growth of the previous quarters, by 4%, in this trend high volume completed greenfield investments conducted by foreign-owned enterprises played a role.
At the same time, in the case of budgetary units, realizing 10% of investments, developments were down by 17% compared to the Q1 2019, partially as a result of the smaller volume of implemented EU-financed projects in the current quarter.
Despite the general decrease in investments, developments in manufacturing increased slightly (1.1%), even though a significant decrease was recorded in the manufacture of transport equipment.
Investments significantly increased, due to ongoing large-scale projects, in the manufacture of electrical equipment, in the manufacture of rubber and plastic products, as well as in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products.
Real estate investment volume, representing nearly a fifth of total investments, grew by 10%.
Developments grew significantly in several smaller sections. The highest growth characterized investments in agriculture, forestry, and fishing (31%).
The second-largest growth was registered in the field of information and communication (28%).
In conjunction with the pandemic, due to the outstanding developments in in-patient care, in the field of human health and social work activities, investments grew by 25%.
Investments grew moderately (1.5%) in wholesale and retail trade, as well as in the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.
The volume of investment in transportation and storage dropped by 5.7%.
Certain fields of the general government played an important role in the decrease of investment performance. Investment volume plummeted by 30% in public administration, defense and compulsory social security, as a result of the more moderate acquisitions conducted by central governmental bodies.
In arts, entertainment, and recreation – due to the lower expenditure of the ongoing sport and culture-related projects – investments decreased by 23%. In the cases of education (-8.5%) and water supply and waste management (-2.4%) investments decreased at a higher rate than the economy’s average, too.
The greatest decrease in investment volume (-54%) was recorded in the field of the little weight representing mining and quarrying.
Investments significantly decreased in the energy industry (-37%), partially as a result of the reduced expenditures of solar-panel projects in the current quarter, KSH notes.
Investment volume in financial and insurance activities also decreased (-32%), in part as a result of the smaller acquisition volume of IT equipment.
The seasonally adjusted volume of investments decreased by 1.1% compared to the previous quarter.
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