Romania ranks 4th for lowest public debt, 2nd for budget deficit

Romania ranked fourth among the European Union countries for the lowest public debt in 2014. Its public debt amounted to 39.9% of the GDP, up from 38% in 2013. Estonia recorded the lowest public debt last year, which stood at 10.4% of the GDP, followed by Luxembourg (23%) and Bulgaria (27%). The European Union demands that the public debt does not exceed 60% of the GDP. Some 16 EU member states had debt levels higher than the one required by the EU, including Greece (179%), Italy (132%), and Portugal (130%). Overall, the public debt of the EU states amounted to 86.8% of their GDP, up from 85.5% in 2013. Romania’s budget deficit dropped to 1.4% of the GDP last year, compared to 2.2% of the GDP in 2013. It ranked second among EU member states, after Lithuania, which had a budget deficit of 0.7% last year. EU’s budget deficit reached 3% of the GDP last year, down from 3.3% in 2013. editor@romania-insider.com