Romania’s total external debt grew by 1.1 percent last year up to EUR 98.48 billion at end-December, due mainly to rising short-term debt, National Bank of Romania (BNR) data show. However, the debt accounts now less that 50 percent of GDP.
Long-term public debt rose last year by EUR 513 million, to EUR 34.06 billion at the end of December, while the non-publicly guaranteed debt (mostly private) declined by EUR 1.84 million, to EUR 31.96 billion.
The total long-term external debt amounted to EUR 67.22 billion at the end of 2018, down 1.9 percent compared with December 2017.
But the short-term external debt increased by 8.4 percent to EUR 31.26 billion.
The external rate service ratio on the long term was 20.7 percent in 2018, compared with 25 percent in 2017.
The coverage level of goods and services imports at end-December was 4.9 months, compared with 5.4 months in December 2017, according to the central bank.