Romania 1Q Current Account Gap Widens 65.5% To EUR1.5B

Romania's current account deficit widened 65.5% to EUR1.5 billion in January-March, from EUR910 million in the same period a year earlier, due to the decreasing surplus in the current transfers balance, the central bank said in a statement Monday.

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The current transfers balance posted a surplus of EUR454 million in the first quarter, down 62.8% from EUR1.22 billion in January-March 2009.

Foreign direct investments, which stood at EUR754 million, covered half of Romania's first-quarter current account deficit.

In January-March 2009, Romanian FDI was EUR1.48 billion.

Romania's total external debt reached EUR86 billion end-March, compared with EUR80.2 billion at the end of 2009, according to central bank data.

The wider debt was mostly due to the raising medium and long-term debt, which stood at EUR70.2 billion at the end of March, up from EUR65.6 billion in December last year.

The short-term debt was at EUR15.9 billion, up 8.8% from EUR14.6 billion at the end of December.

In 2009, Romania's current account deficit narrowed 68.7% on the year to EUR5.05 billion.

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