Romania’s balance of payments gap widens 40% in the first four months, to EUR 2.06bn

The balance of payments deficit amounted to 1.46 million euros after the first four months in 2009.

The commercial deficit, the main source fueling the external unbalance, continued to compress in the first four months, by 20.7 percent to 1.76 billion euros, from 2.22 billion euros in January-April 2009.

The service balance reported a deficit of 248 million euros, versus 66 million euros in the same period last year, BNR also shows.

The main cause of the gap in the service balance was the “other services” segment which widened gap to 125 million euros, from 99 million euros in the first four months of 2009.

The revenues balance deficit reduced almost 11 percent to 651 million euros in the first four months.

Cash inflows from current transfers, including remittances from Romanians abroad, plunged 37.16 percent in the first four months, to 1.54 billion euros. Cash outflows inched 4 percent, from 907 million euros in January-April 2009 to 943 million euros in the first four months of the year.

Last year, Romania’s balance of payments deficit narrowed 68.7 percent to 5.05 billion euros, as the external unbalance recovered to the level in 2004, although the economy was much smaller then.