Romania's short-term external debt rises above EUR 30 bln

Romania's total (gross) external debt increased by EUR 1.5 billion in the first ten months of this year to EUR 98.9 billion (49% of GDP), at the end of October, Romania's National Bank (BNR) announced. The long-term external debt at end-October 2018 stood at EUR 68.3 billion (69.1% of the total external debt), down 0.3% from the end of 2017. In contrast, the short-term external debt increased by 6% since the end of 2017 and amounted to EUR 30.6 billion (30.9% of the total external debt) at the end of October. Compared to October 2017, though, the long-term debt contracted marginally (by 0.3%) while the short-term external debt soared by 14.7%, or EUR 3.9 billion. Romania's short-term external debt has increased sharply since mid-2016, when it was around EUR 20 billion, to EUR 30 billion at mid-2018. The long-term external debt service ratio (external debt as a share of exports of goods and services) dropped at 20.6% in January - October 2018 against 25% in 2017. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Pixabay.com)