Mugur Isărescu, the governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), stated that Romania is not in danger of defaulting on its external obligations, emphasizing that the level of international reserves is adequate. Isărescu characterized opinions suggesting that the country is on the brink of disaster as "catastrophic" and harmful. He explained that external debt is not directly compared to reserves, as not all debt matures simultaneously. Although Romania is facing a budget deficit, the governor stated that the state can manage the situation, even if revenues are not realized or expenses are higher. Isărescu mentioned that budgetary issues are related to rigid expenditures, such as pensions and salaries of public employees, which cannot be easily reduced. Public debt has exceeded 60% of GDP, and the budget deficit should decrease to 6%-6.5% of GDP this year.
We are not there. I do not share this point of view. It is catastrophic and does us no good. In general, stopping payments refers to external payments. If you do not make them on time, you do not pay your external obligations. We do not have such a situation, and that is why I insisted on the level of reserves. It is an adequate level of international reserves, and when comparisons are made, as I see you still do in the press, total debt is not compared to the level of reserves, because not all debt matures at the same time. Some of it is refinanced. So here you can have discussions with our specialists and those from the Ministry of Finance. Under no circumstances are we in such a situation to stop payments," said Isărescu.
Sources
Latest News
23:05
22:59
22:44
22:28
22:20
See more news