Romania’s gross external debt up EUR 6.8 bln ytd at end-February

The gross external debt of Romania at the end of February reached EUR 176.8 billion, some EUR 6.8 billion up from EUR 170.1 billion at the end of 2023, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).

Out of the total, EUR 128.4 billion is long-term debt, compared to EUR 121.8 billion at the end of 2023. The short-term debt remained roughly steady at EUR 48.4 billion.

The government’s external debt rose by some EUR 6 billion, driven by FX bonds issued in both January and February, to EUR 83.1 billion.

The long-term external debt service ratio (the ratio of long-term external debt service to exports of goods and services) stood at 10.9% in February 2024 against 16.7% in 2023.

At the end of February 2024, goods and services import cover (the ratio of international reserves at the end of the period to average monthly imports of goods and services for the period under review) ran at 6.1 months, compared to 5.6 months at end-2023.

At the end of 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%, as against 96.3% at end-2023.

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