Romania’s trade gap deepens by 50% YoY in Jan-Feb

Romania’s trade gap has widened by 30% in February, compared to the same month last year, and by 50% in the first two months of the year - to nearly EUR 4.6 bln (almost 2% of GDP).

The trade gap in the rolling 12 months to February reached EUR 25.2 bln or some 10% of GDP.

The external deficit is among the key elements that keep the country from getting a better sovereign rating, besides the public deficit.

The inflation, driven by rising commodity prices, has a magnifying impact on the country’s foreign trade - exports, imports and deficit - but, eventually, it will diminish the domestic consumption with a positive impact on the trade gap.

Romania’s exports increased by 21.9% in February compared to the same month last year (YoY) and by 23.4% YoY in the first two months of the year to EUR 13.8 bln, the statistics office INS announced.

The food exports surged by 55% YoY to account for 8.3% of total exports in the two months. Export of animal and vegetable oils nearly quadrupled - although on a low base - to account for 0.6% of exports. The export of mineral fuels doubled to account for 4.9% of total exports.

The country’s imports increased by 23.8% YoY in February and by 28.9% YoY to EUR 18.4 bln in January-February. Import of mineral fuels surged by 2.4 times to account for 10.2% of total imports.

The import of chemicals, a major item in the structure of Romania’s imports, increased by 45% YoY and accounted for 16.2% of total imports.

Only the machinery and transport equipment section is more substantial on both exports and imports side (43% of exports and 33% of imports respectively).

(Photo: Pixabay)