In January - August 2024, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 17,858 million, compared with EUR 13,830 million in January - August 2023, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) informs in a press release on Monday.The breakdown shows that the deficit on trade in goods widened by EUR 2,634 million, the surplus on services fell by EUR 863 million, the primary income deficit increased by EUR 979 million, while the secondary income surplus grew by EUR 448 million.Non-residents' direct investments in Romania totalled EUR 4,139 million (compared with EUR 4,382 million in January - August 2023), of which equity (including the estimated reinvestment of earnings) and intercompany lending recorded net values of EUR 3,563 million and EUR 576 million, respectively.In January - August 2024, total external debt increased by EUR 14,189 million to EUR 182,524 million, of which: long-term external debt at end-August 2024 ran at EUR 133,389 million (73.1 percent of total external debt), up 9.2 percent against end-2023; short-term external debt at end-August 2024 amounted to EUR 49,135 million (26.9 percent of total external debt), up 6.3 percent from end-2023.Long-term external debt service ratio stood at 13.8 percent in August 2024 against 18 percent in 2023. At end-August 2024, goods and services import cover ran at 5.9 months, as compared to 5.6 months at end-2023.At end-August 2024, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania's foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 101.1 percent, as against 99.7 percent at end-2023, the central bank points out.
June is the richest month. The most awaited two weeks in my annual festival pilgrimage. The route starts with Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), followed by Italy’s (and the world’s) most comprehensive festival for restored and archival film: Il Cinema Ritrovato. To shake up the traditional article on the two, I’ll start with the […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Different Beauty, a recently opened exhibition of works by Czech photographer David Těšínský, offers a glimpse into everyday life in the war-torn region of Donbas in 2017. The photos were taken within the span of only a few days, as Těšínský traveled to eastern Ukraine to document the lives of women impacted by war. In […]
Roughly 70% of Romanians are “very” or “moderately” concerned about how AI accesses and uses their data, according to the latest survey conducted by RoCoach in partnership with Novel Research between May and June 2025. Distrust in automated decision-making and the demand for regulation are becoming more pronounced, as Romania rolls out major digitalization projects […]
The Armenian Street Festival returns for a 9th edition between August 1 and 3, 2025, in the “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanical Garden in Bucharest. The festival brings into focus the living heritage of the Armenian community in Romania and the diaspora. According to the organizers, this year’s edition aims to strengthen the Bucharest–Chișinău–Yerevan cultural axis, articulated […]
The Romanian mergers and acquisitions market registered a total of 122 announced transactions in the first half of 2025, with a value exceeding EUR 2.7 billion, marking a slight increase of 6% in volume and 4% in value compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by George Ureche, partner at PwC Romania. […]
