In January 2024p, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 1,358 million, compared with EUR 760 million in January 2023. The breakdown shows that the deficit on trade in goods declined by EUR 229 million, the surplus on services fell by EUR 351 million, the primary income deficit stood at EUR 376 million against a EUR 27 million surplus in the same year-ago period, while the secondary income surplus decreased by EUR 72 million. Non-residents’ direct investmente in Romania totalled EUR 583 million (compared with EUR 596 million in January 2023), of which equity (including the estimated net reinvestment of earnings) and intercompany lending recorded net values of EUR 697 million and EUR -114 million, respectively. In January 2024, total external debt increased by EUR 4,314 million to EUR 173,126 million, of which: long-term external debt at end-January 2024 ran at EUR 125,244 million (72.3 percent of total external debt), up 3.4 percent against end-2023; short-term external debt at end-January 2024 amounted to EUR 47,882 million (27.7 percent of total external debt), up 0.5 percent from end-2023. Long-term external debt service ratio stood at 11.2 percent in January 2024 against 17.4 percent in 2023. At end-January 2024, goods and services import cover ran at 6.3 months, as compared to 5.6 months at end-2023. At end-January 2024, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 99.9 percent, as against 97.4 percent at end-2023.
Romania registered the third lowest employment rate in the EU in 2023, following Italy and Greece, according to recent Eurostat data. Only 69% of Romanians aged between 20 and 64 are employed, meaning nearly one-third of Romanians are not working. Certain factors influence these figures. Romania makes use of a category of special pensions applied […]
Authorities are looking into the case of a Romanian minor who was allegedly sold for RON 8,000 (EUR 1,600) and arrived in Germany with false documents. Romanian authorities were notified by those in Germany regarding the case, but investigations are still ongoing. The minor is currently in the care of the German state. The boy […]
The residential market had a strong start in 2024, with the first quarter ending with an 18% increase in the number of residential transactions in Bucharest compared to the same period last year, according to Colliers data. In the rest of the country, the increase was slightly higher - 19%. According to Colliers consultants, buying […]
Siemens Healthineers, the medical technology branch of the German multinational, recently launched its newest MRI scanner, the MAGNETOM Flow, during an event held in Bucharest on April 24. Featured in one of the panels during the event, Sonja Wehsely, executive vice president CEECA Siemens Healthineers, highlighted the strengths of the new scanner. Wehsely, who has […]
The Romanian General Prosecutor's Office officially announced the indictment of former president Ion Iliescu, former prime minister Petre Roman, and former deputy prime minister Gelu-Voican Voiculescu for crimes against humanity, in the case of the Mineriada (miners' riot) of June 1990. Along with the three, the former director of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), Virgil […]
Uber launched its Green service in the popular mountain city of Brașov, in central Romania, on April 25, with a fleet of environmentally friendly vehicles such as Toyota Prius, Hyundai Ioniq, Tesla Model Y, and Volkswagen ID.3. Previously, the Uber Green option was made available to residents and tourists of Cluj-Napoca in November 2023. “We […]
