2024 - 2026 gov't debt management strategy approved

The government approved on Thursday the government debt management strategy over 2024 - 2026, as presented in a memorandum by the Finance Ministry, the Executive said in a release.With budget deficits running high and Romania subject to an excessive deficit procedure, the Finance Ministry's goal is to ensure financing for the budget deficit and the refinancing of the public debt, mainly in national currency, in order to continue the development of the internal market in correlation with its absorption capacity for RON-denominated government securities, in parallel with accessing external financial markets according to the opportunities offered by these markets, with the aim of extending the average maturity for the total debt and diversifying the investment base.Also, the policy of contracting loans from international financial institutions will continue, in order to ensure robust sources of financing and minimizing costs in the medium and long term.The 2024 - 2026 government debt management strategy represents the continuation of the previous strategy for the period 2023 - 2025 and is designed in compliance with the best practices defined in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund guidelines for designing public debt strategies, and in consultation with the National Bank of Romania.The strategy is limited to the debt contracted directly or guaranteed by the government, through the Finance Ministry, but does not include loans from the general current account of the State Treasury ("temporary financing"), cash management instruments and guarantees granted in the name and account of the state by Exim Banca Romaneasca, which were included in the public debt structure starting in 2022, as per the Court of Accounts Ruling No. 3/11.01.2023.The Memorandum presents the structure of the government debt portfolio by the type of currency, interest rate and debt instruments.