Romania’s gross external debt (GED) decreased by EUR 817 million in January, compared to the end of last year, to EUR 98.4 billion.

Compared to the end of January 2018, the country’s GED increased by 5.4% or, in absolute terms, EUR 5.1 billion. Notably, the EUR 9.4 billion current account deficit in 2018 resulted in a smaller advance of the GED.

The GED-to-GDP ratio at the end of January 2019 was 48.7%, lower than the 49.6% ratio calculated one year earlier at the end of January 2018.

The external public debt alone increased by 3.8% or by EUR 1.26 billion, over the past 12 months, to EUR 34.3 billion at the end of January 2019. The private external debt decreased by EUR 1.46 billion (-4.4%) over the same 12-month period of time to EUR 32.0 billion.

The short-term (mainly private) external debt saw the steepest decline over the past year, namely EUR 5.24 billion short-term deposits have evaporated while the end-of-period stock was EUR 30.9 billion.

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editor@romania-insider.com