The current account of the balance of payments posted a deficit of 878 million euros over Jan.-June 2014, from a surplus of 123 million euros in the same period of 2103, according to a release issued by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) on Wednesday.
This deficit was due to an increase in the income deficit (by 1.28 billion euros) in H1, 2014 compared to the same period of 2013, up to 2.97 billion euros; to an increase in the trade deficit that jumped from 1.45 billion euros in H1, 2013 to 1.66 billion euros in 2014. In addition, the current transfers also posted a lower surplus in 2014 compared to H1, 2013, i.e. 1.9 billion euros compared to 2.03 billion euros.
On the other hand, the service balance recorded a surplus higher by over 600 million lei, from 1.24 billion lei after the first six months of 2013 up to 1.86 billion lei this year, the BNR data show.
According to the release, medium- and long-term external debt on June 30, 2014 was 75.3 billion euros, equivalent to 81 percent of the total external debt, and down 2.1 percent from December 31, 2013. Short-term external debt at end-June amounted to 17.657 billion euros (19 percent of the total external debt), down 7.9 percent from end-2013, the release reads.
