Romania’s external debt rises by EUR 5 bln in January-May 2020

Romania’s total external debt increased by EUR 5 billion in the first five months of the year, to EUR 110.89 billion at the end of May, according to data from the national bank BNR.

The long-term debt stood at EUR 77.63 billion at end-May (70% of total external debt), representing an increase of 5.4% compared to the end of 2019. At the same time, the short-term debt increased by 3.2% to EUR 33.26 billion.

The long-term external debt service ratio was 18.8% in January-May 2020, slightly up from 18.6% in 2019. At end-May 2020, goods and services import cover stood at 5.8 months, as compared to 4.6 months at end-2019.

In January-May, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 2.88 billion, compared with EUR 3.41 billion in the same year-ago period, BNR also said. The trade gap for goods widened by EUR 921 million in this period, the surplus on services increased by EUR 379 million, the primary income balance recorded a positive contribution of EUR 513 million, and the surplus of the secondary income balance rose by EUR 562 million.

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