BNR: Gap between direct investments and external debt widens in December 2017

Anca Alexe 13/02/2018 | 14:41

According to data published by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) on Tuesday, the balance-of-payments current account in January-December 2017 posted a deficit of EUR 6.4 billion, compared to EUR 3.4 billion in January-December 2016.

The deficit on trade in goods and that on primary income widened by EUR 2.7 billion and EUR 566 million respectively, while the surplus on services and that on secondary income increased by EUR 239 million and EUR 135 million respectively.

Non-residents’ direct investment in Romania totalled EUR 4.586 billion (compared to EUR 4.517 billion in 2016), of which equity (including estimated net reinvestment of earnings) amounted to EUR 3.8 billion and intercompany lending recorded a net value of EUR 764 million.

In January-December 2017, total external debt increased by EUR 1.04 billion, of which:

Long-term external debt at the end of December 2017 stood at 68.7 billion (73.2 percent of total external debt), down 1.3 percent from end-2016;
Short-term external debt at end-December 2017 amounted to EUR 25.2 billion (26.8 percent of total external debt), up 8.3 percent against end-2016.

The long-term external debt service ratio ran at 20.4 percent in January-December 2017, against 30 percent in 2016. At the end of December 2017, goods and services import cover stood at 5.4 months, as compared to 6.3 months at end-2016.

At the end of December 2017, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 86.4 percent, against 90.5 percent at end-2016.