According to latest press release published in august by the National Bank of Romania, in January – June 2018, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 3,781 million, compared with EUR 3,526 million in January – June 2017; the deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 711 million, the surplus on services income narrowed by EUR 261 million, the deficit of the primary income balance contracted by EUR 894 million, and the surplus of the secondary income balance decreased by EUR 177 million.
Non-residents’ direct investment in Romania totalled EUR 2,194 million (compared with EUR 1,695 million in January – June 2017), of which equity (including estimated net reinvestment of earnings) amounted to EUR 2,258 million and intercompany lending recorded a negative net value of EUR 64 million.
In January – June 2018, total external debt increased by EUR 1,894 million, of which:
- Long-term external debt at end-June 2018 stood at EUR 66,902 million (70.1 percent of total external debt), down 2.5 percent from end-2017;
- Short-term external debt at end-June 2018 amounted to EUR 28,469 million (29.9 percent of total external debt), up 14.5 percent against end-2017.
Long-term external debt service ratio ran at 22.8 percent in January – June 2018 against 23.9 percent in 2017. At end-June 2018, goods and services import cover stood at 4.9 months, as compared to 5.4 months at end-2017.
At end-June 2018, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 76.2 percent, against 87.2 percent at end-2017.
- Note: The balance of external public debt is cash-based (excluding unmatured accrued interest). External direct public debt includes external loans taken directly by the Ministry of Public Finance and local governments in compliance with the legislation on public debt, including the financial instruments acquired by non-residents – calculated at market value. External publicly guaranteed debt includes external loans guaranteed by the Ministry of Public Finance and local governments in compliance with the legislation on public debt.
- Long-term external debt service ratio is calculated as a ratio of long-term external debt service to exports of goods and services.
- Import cover is calculated as a ratio of the international reserves (foreign exchange + gold) at the end of period to average monthly imports of goods and services for the period under review.
- Short-term external debt by remaining maturity refers to the short-term external debt outstanding at the end of period plus the payments related to long-term external debt due in the following 12 months.
For further information: Balance of payments and external debt – June 2018