In January – February 2024, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 2,707 million, 24.69% higher, compared with EUR 2,171 million in January – February 2023, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) informs on Friday.

The breakdown shows that the deficit on trade in goods declined by EUR 39 million, the surplus on services fell by EUR 456 million, the primary income deficit increased by EUR 516 million, while the secondary income registered a surplus of EUR 345 million, compared to a deficit of EUR 52 million in the same year-ago period.

According to BNR, in January – February 2024, total external debt increased by EUR 6,766 million to EUR 176,849 million, of which: long-term external debt at end-February 2024 ran at EUR 128,439 million (72.6 percent of total external debt), up 5.5 percent against end-2023; short-term external debt at end-February 2024 amounted to EUR 48,410 million (27.4 percent of total external debt), up 0.2 percent from end-2023.

Long-term external debt service ratio stood at 10.9 percent in February 2024 against 16.7 percent in 2023. At end-February 2024, goods and services import cover ran at 6.1 months, as compared to 5.6 months at end-2023.

At end-February 2024, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 101.2 percent, as against 96.3 percent at end-2023.

AGERPRES