Romania's external debt, which includes both the state’s debt as well as loans taken by local private companies from abroad, increased by EUR 376 million in the first two months of this year compared to end-2016, reaching EUR 92.75 billion.

The growth was mainly due to the increase in the short-term loans, according to data released yesterday by Romania’s National Bank (BNR).

At the end of 2016, Romania's total external debt was EUR 92.37 billion, according to revised data from BNR.

The long-term debt amounted to almost EUR 68.5 billion at the end of February, down EUR 484 million compared to the end of 2016, whereas the short-term debt reached EUR 24.2 billion, up EUR 860 million. Of the long-term debt, some EUR 31.9 billion represented public debt, down EUR 266 million compared to the end of 2016.

The foreign debt of banks and companies reached EUR 35.2 billion at the end of February, down EUR 220 million compared to December 2016.

editor@romania-insider.com