Romanian National Bank: Foreign Investments Increasing by 21%

According to Romanian National Bank, foreign direct investments in Romania have increased by 21% in the first half of 2022.

The balance of payments current account had a deficit of EUR 12,298 million from January to June 2022 compared to a deficiency of EUR 7,203 million during the same time last year. According to the breakdown, the surplus on services climbed by EUR 487 million, the deficit on primary income increased by EUR 1,349 million, and the excess on secondary income decreased by EUR 44 million. The debt on trade in products increased by EUR 4,189 million.

From January to June 2021, non-residents made a total of EUR 4,379 million in direct investments in Romania (up from 3,605 million euros), of which equity (including the estimated net reinvestment of earnings) and intercompany lending recorded net values of EUR 3,115 and 1,264 million, respectively.

The entire amount of external debt increased by EUR 2,645 million between January and June 2022. The amount of long-term external debt at the end of June 2022 was EUR 93,691 million (68.3% of the total external debt), down 3.6% from the end of 202. The amount of short-term external debt was EUR 43,571 million (31.7% of the total external debt), up 16.3% from the end of 2021.

Compared to 16.4% in 2021, the long-term external debt servicing ratio was 15.5% from January to June 2022. The import cover for goods and services was 4.3 months at the end of June 2022 as opposed to 4.9 months at the end of 2021.

At the end of June 2022, the National Bank of Romania’s foreign exchange reserves were 76.4% of its short-term external debt by remaining maturity, down from 81.9% at the end of 2021.