In January – July 2024, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 15,178 million, compared with EUR 11,328 million in January – July 2023, according to a National Bank of Romania (BNR) release.

The breakdown shows that the deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 2,531 million, the surplus on services fell by EUR 1,303 million, the primary income deficit increased by EUR 538 million, while the secondary income surplus grew by EUR 522 million.

In January – July 2024, total external debt increased by EUR 10,247 million to EUR 180,330 million, of which: long-term external debt at end-July 2024 ran at EUR 131,851 million (73.1 percent of total external debt), up 8.3 percent against end-2023; short-term external debt at end-July 2024 amounted to EUR 48,479 million (26.9 percent of total external debt), up 0.3 percent from end-2023.

Long-term external debt service ratio stood at 16.4 percent in July 2024 against 16.7 percent in 2023. At end-July 2024, goods and services import cover ran at 5.9 months, as compared to 5.6 months at end-2023.

At end-July 2024, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 103.8 percent, as against 96.3 percent at end-2023.

AGERPRES