Bucharest - Romania's current account deficit grew by nearly
15 per cent in the first nine months of the year, authorities said
Wednesday, the latest sign of a possible economic crunch for the
European Union newcomer.
Goods imports running far ahead of exports were the main reason
for the 12.7-billion-euro (16.1-billion-dollar) shortfall in the
nation's broadest measure of international trade, central bank data
showed.
Medium- and long-term foreign debt grew by 25.2 per cent since the
start of the year, the report said.
Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, is among the ex-communist
nations that has raised concern in the global financial crisis,
especially after international lenders saved neighbouring Hungary from
possible default.
Romania's economy, one of the fastest-growing in the region, has
depended heavily on a consumer and construction boom financed by
foreign banks, but growth is now slowing.
Ratings agencies have lowered their outlook for Romania's
sovereign debt in recent days as worries deepen about the global
slowdown's impact on eastern Europe's emerging economies.
Fitch Ratings on Monday cut its debt ratings for Bulgaria,
Hungary, Kazakhstan and Romania. While upgrading its outlook for
Hungary and Bulgaria from negative to stable, Fitch kept Romania at
negative.
That outlook indicates concern that Romania may not be able to
'avoid a severe economic and financial crisis,' analysts at Austria's
RZB Group bank said.
The ratings are designed to measure the risk of a government's
defaulting on its debt.
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