The Romanians living abroad could send less money home, central bank official says

The Central Bank of Romania (BNR) believes the money coming into the country from the Romanians abroad will reduce as these settled in countries which face economic problems at the moment, such as Spain and Italy, BNR vice-governor Cristian Popa said.

The money inflows to the country last year sent by the Romanians living abroad amounted to 7.16 billion euros, up 29.3 percent against 2006.

In the first two months of the year, the Romanians working abroad sent some 1.218 billion euros, up 20.4 percent against the first two months of 2007.

The money coming from abroad tempered in the recent years the widening of the current account deficit. Yet, the balance of payments deficit last year widened 66.1 percent, to 16.9 billion euros. This accounted to 13.9 percent of Romania’s GDP.

NewsIn