According to the National Bank of Romania (BNR) data, in January – February 2024p, the balance-of-payments current account posted a deficit of EUR 2,707 million, compared with EUR 2,171 million in January – February 2023. The breakdown shows that the deficit on trade in goods declined by EUR 39 million, the surplus on services fell by EUR 456 million, the primary income deficit increased by EUR 516 million, while the secondary income registered a surplus of EUR 345 million, compared to a deficit of EUR 52 million in the same year-ago period. Non-residents’ direct investmente in Romania totalled EUR 1,229 million (compared with EUR 1,345 million in January – February 2023), of which equity (including the estimated net reinvestment of earnings) and intercompany lending recorded net values of EUR 1,105 million and EUR 124 million, respectively. In January – February 2024, total external debt increased by EUR 6,766 million to EUR 176,849 million, of which: long-term external debt at end-February 2024 ran at EUR 128,439 million (72.6 percent of total external debt), up 5.5 percent against end-2023; short-term external debt at end-February 2024 amounted to EUR 48,410 million (27.4 percent of total external debt), up 0.2 percent from end-2023. Long-term external debt service ratio stood at 10.9 percent in February 2024 against 16.7 percent in 2023. At end-February 2024, goods and services import cover ran at 6.1 months, as compared to 5.6 months at end-2023. At end-February 2024, the ratio of the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves to short-term external debt by remaining maturity came in at 101.2 percent, as against 96.3 percent at end-2023.
President Nicușor Dan stated on Monday, November 10, that Romania meets all the conditions to become an innovation and production hub in the defense industry in Southeast Europe. “Romania meets all the conditions to become an innovation and production hub in the defense industry in Southeast Europe. Why? First of all, because it has a […]
Officials in the mountain resort town of Râșnov, central Romania, have issued an urban planning certificate for the transformation of a Boeing 737 airplane into a premium accommodation unit. The plane will be placed near the famous Bran Castle, and organizers expect it to become a tourist attraction. “The project is located in the Pănicel […]
Traffic (Jaful Secolului), a Romania-Belgium-Netherlands co-production directed by Belgian-Romanian director Teodora Ana Mihai from a screenplay by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, has received the award for best film at the Tertio Millennio International Film Festival in Rome. The jury of the festival noted in its motivation the film's "ability to combine formal rigor and human […]
The Romanian Justice Ministry advanced a legislative initiative according to which femicide could be punished with life imprisonment. The proposal comes after numerous women were killed this year by former partners, despite protection orders. The debate about femicide in Romania was brought back to the fore after another tragedy took place on Saturday, November 9, […]
Cultural center Apollo111, located in downtown Bucharest’s Universul Palace, has announced the program of arthouse films Apollo111 Cinema. The performance venue of Apollo 111 has been refurbished and endowed for professional film screenings. It will run a weekly program of contemporary and classic auteur films, meetings with filmmakers, and an experimental area, meant to “explore […]
Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi announced the official opening of its first own store in Romania, in Bucharest, inside the ParkLake shopping center, on the ground floor, on November 22. The new store will have a surface area of 150 square meters and will bring to the public the latest smartphones, accessories, and smart devices […]
