Romania’s public debt up 0.6% of GDP in September 2025 on domestic borrowing

Romania’s public debt increased by another RON 10.8 billion (EUR 2 billion) in September 2025, bringing the year-to-date rise to RON 131 billion or EUR 25.8 billion at the end-September exchange rate.

The debt-to-GDP ratio reached 58.9%, up from 57.3% at the end of June, 54.8% at the end of 2024, and 53.1% at the end of September 2024, according to datafrom the Finance Ministry.

In nominal terms, Romania’s public debt increased by 13.6% year-to-date and by 19.5% year-on-year. The sharp nominal expansion, toned down by the rise in nominal GDP, resulted in a 5.8 percentage points advance of the debt-to-GDP ratio over the past 12 months to the end of September. The expected fiscal consolidation over the next quarters is likely to slow down the country’s indebtedness (seen at around 60% at the end of 2025), but the lower inflation will also prevent the debt-erosion effects.

While the forex borrowing accounted for 72% of the total net foreign borrowing in January-September, it stood at only 18% of the net borrowing in September. With no FX bond issue in the ninth month of the year, the Treasury has largely relied on the domestic market, particularly issuing medium and long-term bonds denominated in local currency.

Consequently, the share of forex-denominated public debt declined slightly to 54.0% of the total at the end of September from 54.3% one month earlier – still well above the 51.5% ratio at the end of 2024.

(Photo: Alexandru Marinescu/ Dreamstime)