Romania’s total external debt close to EUR 100 bln on rising short-term credit

Romania’s total external debt grew by 2 percent in the first 11 months of last year compared with December 2017, to EUR 99.36 billion, due mainly to rising short-term debt, National Bank of Romania (BNR) data show.

Long-term public debt rose by EUR 698 million, to EUR 34.2 billion at the end of November, while the non-publicly guaranteed debt (mostly private) declined by EUR 1.52 million, to EUR 32.28 billion.

The total long-term external debt amounted to EUR 67.726 billion in November, down 1.2 percent compared with December 2017.

But the short-term external debt increased by 9.7 percent to EUR 31.64 billion.

The external rate service ratio on the long term was 20 percent in January-November, compared with 25 percent in 2017.

The coverage level of goods and services imports at end-November was 4.8 months, compared with 5.4 months in December 2017, according to the central bank.