Romania’s public debt increased by RON 33.2 billion (EUR 6.5 billion) during the first quarter of 2026, the Finance Ministry announced on June 10, on foreign currency bond issuances that totalled EUR 4.5 billion (EUR 3 billion and USD 1.73 billion) during March. 

The stock of debt reached RON 1.17 trillion (EUR 229.6 billion) at the end of March. The average cost of public debt eased to 4.7% in the first quarter of the year.

The debt-to-GDP ratio, 60.2% at the end of March, exceeded the 60% threshold for the first time ever under semi-definitive terms (based on rolling 4-quarter GDP). Larger ratios were preliminary reported in the past, to be later revised downward following the quarterly GDP release.

The European Commission, under the Spring Forecast issued on May 21, projected Romania’s public debt would reach 61.6% of GDP at the end of 2026 and 63.4% at the end of 2027. The country’s indebtedness ratio would rise by 4.1 percentage points in two years amid fiscal consolidation, down from 10.4 percentage points over the previous two years. 

During Q1 this year, the principal repaid by Romania reached some RON 37.7 billion (EUR 7.2 billion), out of the RON 145 billion expected for the whole year. This implies RON 71 billion of new debt issued during the three months of the year. 

For the whole year, the financing needs are estimated at nearly RON 280 billion, to cover the RON 128 billion public deficit and the RON 150 billion refinancing.

The interest paid by the country for the public debt reached RON 13.4 billion in Q1, resulting in an average cost of debt of 4.7%, down from 5.1% in the same period of 2025.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Breeze393/Dreamstime.com)