Romania reached a current account deficit of EUR 568 million in the first two months of the year – 33 percent higher than the one recorded in the first two months of 2018, according to the central bank.
The deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 671 million, the surplus on services income increased by EUR 122 million, the primary income balance recorded a surplus of EUR 94 million compared to a deficit of EUR 117 million, and the surplus of the secondary income balance increased by EUR 195 million.
Non-residents’ direct investment in Romania increased by 46 percent in the same period, totalling EUR 1.03 billion (compared with EUR 704 million in January – February 2018), of which equity (including estimated net reinvestment of earnings) amounted to EUR 927 million and intercompany lending recorded a net value of EUR 109 million.
In February 2019, total external debt increased by EUR 193 million, of which:
- long-term external debt at end-February 2019 stood at EUR 68,252 million (68.5 percent of total external debt), up 0.4 percent from end-2018;
- short-term external debt at end-February 2019 amounted to EUR 31,358 million (31.5 percent of total external debt), down 0.3 percent against end-2018.