It would be a crime for Romania to miss out on the current economic window of opportunity, "for reasons of political rebellion" as foreign investors are difficult to attract after initially being frightened away, especially in an unfavourable external climate, says Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu.

"I hope we'll be smart enough to avoid such a situation. Windows of opportunity close that are beyond our control and it really doesn't matter what we tell investors once they've been frightened away. Nobody on the foreign markets will be paying any attention to the soothing speeches of Romanian politicians, regardless of how intelligent they are," Vladescu told ZF.

Sebastian Vladescu is the first high-ranking official to directly speak out on the damaging risk to Romania's image on international markets, a result of prolonged political turmoil. A month ago, Premier Calin Popescu Tariceanu said he had yet to notice negative signals from abroad.

"The international rating agencies are keeping quiet about Romania. This may be a good thing, but could also be bad considering the macroeconomic performance of 2006," states Vladescu. Standard & Poor's has maintained a positive rating outlook for Romania for six months, although it has not upgraded this rating. Moody's is not considering a re-evaluation any time soon, while Fitch maintains a rating outlook that is stable.

Mugur Isarescu, head of the central bank, has so far avoided commenting on the possible negative influences caused by political instability. At the beginning of February, he stated he had not noticed any significant impact on the financial markets.

The international capital markets continue to experience a long period of corrections, which have affected the Stock Exchange in Bucharest.

Direct foreign investment fell to about 400 million euros in January, 44% less than in Janu