Eurostat: Romania, highest governmental deficit, among lowest public debts in EU, in Q1

At the European Union level, Romania had the highest governmental deficit in Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of this year, with 4.5pct of GDP, whereas in the Eurozone, the governmental deficit was 0.5pct of GDP, and the European Union had a governmental deficit of 0.6pct of GDP, according to data released Friday by Eurostat. 

Also, Eurostat data shows that Romania was also the leader in the increase of the governmental deficit in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of last year, with an advance of 1.7 percentage points, from a deficit of 2.8pct of GDP to 4.5pct of GDP. 

In the Eurozone, the governmental deficit declined from 1.1pct of GDP in the last quarter of last year to 0.5pct of GDP in the first quarter of this year. In the European Union, the governmental deficit has fallen from 1pct of GDP to 0.6pct of GDP. 

Separately, Eurostat released data on governmental debt at the end of the first quarter of 2019. According to these figures, Romania was among the member states with the lowest governmental debt level, at 34.1pct of GDP, with a lower level of governmental debt only in Estonia (8.1pct of GDP), Bulgaria (21.2pct), Luxembourg (21.3pct), Denmark (33.6pct) and the Czech Republic (34pct). 

Compared to the last quarter of last year, 12 EU member states recorded an increase in governmental debt versus GDP while 13 other member states, including Romania, declined. In the case of Romania, governmental debt dropped from 35 percent of GDP in the last quarter of last year to 34.1 percent of GDP in the first quarter of this year, a decline of 0.8 percentage points. 

The public deficit is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as the net financing requirement, as defined by the European Integrated Economic Accounts. The general government sector includes the central, state, local and social security sub-sectors.