Romania's economy grew faster than the government and economists expected in the second quarter, stoked by a lending boom, increased investment and rising wages, Bloomberg reported.

Economic expansion accelerated to an annual 9.3 percent from 8.2 percent in the first quarter, the Bucharest-based National Statistics Institute said in an e-mail today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of nine economists was for 8.6 percent.

Wages rose a net 24.4 percent in June, boosted by increased investment since Romania joined the European Union last year. The sustained pace of salary growth has triggered a consumer boom and increased borrowing, pushing up private debt an annual 65 percent.

Domestic investment in the second quarter grew 30 percent from the same period last year to 6.5 billion lei ($2.7 billion), led by a 35 percent increase in construction.

Gross domestic product growth outstripped the annual 8.9 percent increase that Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian estimated on Aug. 21. In the first half, the economy grew an annual 8.8 percent, the statistics institute said today.

The institute said it will provide a breakdown of GDP growth in a news conference in Bucharest on Sept. 11.

Central bank Governor Mugur Isarescu last month predicted 9 percent growth in 2008 and warned the economy is ``overheating,'' pressuring inflation and worsening the current-account deficit.

The central bank raised its main interest rate to 10.25 percent in July, the highest in the EU, as the inflation rate rose to a three-year high of 9 percent.