Abstract. The adhesion to the European Union has boosted investment in Romania, which contributed significantly to the economic growth in 2007-2008. The economic adjustments during the crisis period were focused mainly on reducing the public investments, while promoting procyclical policies. The economic recovery noted after 2011 was recorded amid the drop of investments, in particular due to further decrease of public investments, under the impact of the fiscal consolidation measures and the tendency to push economic growth by stimulating consumption. The private investments had an uneven territorial orientation, which contributed to an increase of regional economic disparities. The paper analyses the recent dynamics of investments in Romania and their contribution to the economic growth, seeking to determine the extent to which the investment policy will lead to a greater territorial cohesion. In this regard, we have used the econometric analysis of the relationship between investment growth and economic development at regional level, by using a set of linear regressions.

Keywords: investments, public investments, fiscal policy, regional economic growth, regional disparities.