According to the National Bank of Romania press release of 12th of April, in January – February 2019, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 568 million, compared with EUR 425 million in January – February 2018. The deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 671 million, the surplus on services income increased by EUR 122 million, the primary income balance recorded a surplus of EUR 94 million compared to a deficit of EUR 117 million, and the surplus of the secondary income balance increased by EUR 195 million.
As shown in the press release, non-residents’ direct investment in Romania totalled EUR 1,036 million (compared with EUR 704 million in January – February 2018), of which equity (including estimated net reinvestment of earnings) amounted to EUR 927 million and intercompany lending recorded a net value of EUR 109 million.
In February 2019, total external debt increased by EUR 193 million, of which:
- long-term external debt at end-February 2019 stood at EUR 68,252 million (68.5 percent of total external debt), up 0.4 percent from end-2018;
- short-term external debt at end-February 2019 amounted to EUR 31,358 million (31.5 percent of total external debt), down 0.3 percent against end-2018
Long-term external debt service ratio ran at 12.5 percent in January – February 2019 against 21.2 percent in 2018. At end-February 2019, goods and services import cover stood at 4.8 months, as compared to 4.9 months at end-2018.
At end- February 2019, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 72.8 percent, against 74.3 percent at end-2018.
Notes: External debt includes the following debt financial instruments: currency and deposits, loans, debt securities, trade credit and advances, liabilities from insurance, pension, and standardised guarantee schemes, SDR allocation and other liabilities.
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 government bonds acquired by non-residents – calculated at market value. The value of holdings by non-residents is estimated as a difference between the total value of bonds issued by the General Government and the total value of holdings by residents reported by the main financial intermediaries on their behalf and on behalf of their clients, according to NBR Regulation No. 4/2014, as subsequently amended and supplemented.
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: The National Bank of Romania