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Romania’s Jan-May Curr Acct Deficit Narrows 75.5% YY To EUR1.78B

Romania's current account deficit narrowed 75.5% in the first five months of 2009 to EUR1.78 billion, from almost EUR7.24 billion in the same period a year earlier, due largely to the lower trade deficit, the central bank said in a statement Tuesday.
Romania's Jan-May Curr Acct Deficit Narrows 75.5% YY To EUR1.78B
14 iul. 2009, 12:57, English

The bulk of the current account gap in the January-May period was made up of the trade deficit, which stood at EUR2.5 billion, against EUR7.3 billion in the similar period of 2008. Imports and exports were calculated free-on-board.

In the first five months, the current account deficit was entirely financed by foreign direct investments, which stood at EUR2.47 billion.

Romania’s total external debt was at EUR75.05 billion at the end of May, compared with EUR73 billion at the end of 2008, the central bank also said.

The increase was caused mainly by the higher medium- and long-term debt, which stood at EUR57.04 billion, up 12.3% compared with end-2008.

Short-term foreign debt at end-May was at EUR18 billion, down 18.9% from year-end 2008. The short-term debts accounted for 24% of the total external debt.

In 2008, Romania’s current account deficit rose 1.2% to EUR16.87 billion, from EUR16.67 billion in the previous year, also due to a larger trade deficit.

The authorities forecast the current account gap to narrow to 7.5% of the gross domestic product by the end of 2009, compared with 12.6% of the GDP in 2008.