This paper approaches the evolution of Romania’s foreign debt in three periods of time: during Nicolae Ceausescu regime, in the transition period and the one which followed the adhesion to European Union. For all three periods the external debt management had to deal with different circumstances: the sharp increase of real interest rates from the 1980s, the lack of credibility on international financial markets from the 1990s or the recent global crisis. We conclude that political regime, the efficiency of the allocation of the borrowed funds or the international context played major roles in the external debt management.