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.
Romania’s Craiova has been named the best Christmas market in Europe 2026 after securing a record number of votes in the annual competition run by European Best Destinations. The results were announced on Thursday evening, November 27, following a week of online voting. This year, 803,258 travellers from 179 countries have voted and shared their passion on […]
Participation in cultural education activities continues to be limited, with the main barriers being difficult access, insufficient knowledge, and cost, the recently released Cultural Consumption Barometer 2024 shows. The report showed that many Romanians still associate culture with entertainment rather than with personal development or furthering their knowledge. The need for relaxation dominates in cultural […]
Roughly 84% of Romanians say that the pace of the state’s digitalization is slow or very slow, according to an Edge Institute & AtlasIntel study presented at the Digital Governance Summit 2025, which took place on Tuesday, November 25, at the presidential palace in Bucharest. The survey aims to capture the way citizens relate to […]
Romania’s Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) issued a negative opinion on the new bill regarding magistrates’ pensions. The move is only the latest development concerning a heated issue that led to tensions between the executive and the judiciary branch. CSM’s opinion is consultative, and the government led by Ilie Bolojan can still take responsibility for […]
Romania took the presidency of the Central European Initiative (or CEI) on Wednesday, November 26, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). The organization is a regional intergovernmental forum established in 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It gathers 17 Member States in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe […]
Trade between Romania and Poland continues to grow, with annual bilateral exchanges in goods now valued at more than EUR 12 billion, according to figures presented by the Polish-Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRBCC). The data was released during a reception in Bucharest marking Poland’s Independence Day and Romania’s National Day. Polish investments […]
