The current account of the balance of payments recorded a deficit of 29.370 billion euros in 2024, compared to 21.491 billion euros in 2023, according to data released by the National Bank of Romania, published on Thursday.In its structure, the balance of goods recorded a deficit higher by 3.854 billion euros, the balance of services recorded a surplus lower by 1.815 billion euros, the balance of primary income recorded a deficit higher by 1.273 billion euros, and the balance of secondary income recorded a surplus lower by 937 million euros.During the period January - December 2024, the total external debt increased by 20.336 billion euros, up to 203.575 billion euros. In structure, long-term external debt amounted to 154.433 billion euros as of December 31, 2024 (75.9% of total external debt), up 12.7% compared to December 31, 2023. Short-term external debt recorded on December 31, 2024 the level of 49.142 billion euros (24.1% of total external debt), up by 6.3% compared to December 31, 2023.The long-term external debt service rate was 16.5% in December 2024, compared to 16.7% in 2023. The coverage rate of imports of goods and services on December 31, 2024 was 5.8 months, compared to 5.6 months on December 31, 2023.The coverage rate of short-term external debt, calculated at the residual value, with foreign exchange reserves at the NBR on December 31, 2024 was 100.3%, compared to 99.7% on December 31, 2023.
Romania’s statistics office confirmed the 1.6% GDP growth (+1.2% y/y under the chain-linked volume or CLV methodology used by Eurostat) for the third quarter of the year (Q3), half of which was the result of outstanding activity reported in construction. The positive base effects in agriculture (weak crops last year) and marginal improvement in industry […]
Ciprian Ciucu, the Liberal (PNL) mayor of District 6, secured more than 36% of the votes in the December 7, 2025, partial local elections, earning him the position of Bucharest’s new general mayor. The victory marks a significant step in his political career that began 25 years ago and has steadily moved from local administration...
Update: After the counting of the almost 590,000 votes cast in Bucharest, Liberal (PNL) candidate Ciprian Ciucu won the elections for general mayor with 36.1% (over 211,000 votes), holding a lead of more than 14 percentage points over the runner-up. Anca Alexandrescu (21.94%), the candidate...
The exit polls published on Sunday, December 7, at 9 PM, give Ciprian Ciucu as the winner of the elections for Bucharest's new general mayor. The candidate backed by the center-right National Liberal Party won 32.7% of the votes, over 6% ahead of Daniel Băluță, who was backed by PNL’s coalition partner, the Social Democratic […]
Close to 1.8 million Bucharest residents are expected to cast their ballot on Sunday, December 7, to elect the city's next mayor. The post has been vacant since Nicușor Dan was elected president this May. He had secured a second mandate as mayor of Bucharest in June 2024, having won over 48% of the votes. […]
I am a bit late to the party, but I have thoughts (and concerns) on Radu Jude’s much talked-about Dracula, and even more thoughts (and compliments) on other films that I fear might have gone under the radar a bit. Let’s go! There is no more recognizable marketing asset for the local tourism (and no […]
