Bulgaria's current account swings to EUR 231mn surplus in Jan-Jun 2013

By bne IntelliNews August 16, 2013

Bulgaria's current account turned to a surplus of EUR 231mn in the first six months of 2013 after posting a EUR 945mn deficit a year earlier, preliminary data released by the central bank showed. The improvement came on the back of lower trade deficit. The current account surplus in H1 equalled 0.6% of the full-year GDP projection. In Jan-May the CA registered a small surplus of EUR 28.7mn.

Falling imports (down 1.1% y/y in H1) in combination with rising exports (up 7.8% y/y in H1) led to a 40.7% lower y/y merchandise trade deficit in Jan-June. Even though revenue from foreign tourists increased 5.2% y/y in Jan-June, the surplus on the services balance decreased 18.6% y/y. Furthermore, the deficit on the income balance contracted 22% y/y and the net current transfers surplus increased 22.5% y/y to EUR 1.1bn as of end-June.

The financial account posted a deficit of EUR 1.21bn in H1 as compared to EUR 1.28mn surplus in the same period of the previous year. The significant deterioration is linked to the repayment of government debt and contracting investment flows to the country. The net FDI fell 36% y/y to EUR 670mn.

As a result, the balance of payments posted a gap of EUR 517.8mn in Jan-Jun 2013 versus a EUR 463.4mn surplus a year earlier.

Bulgaria, BoP     2012   2013 Change y/y
EUR mn June Jan-June Jan-Dec June Jan-June  
Current Account 97.9 -944.6 -354.4 262.2 231.3 /
Goods balance -371.4 -2222.2 -333.5 -307.5 -1316.8 -40.7%
Services balance 424.8 664.2 39.4 331.9 540.4 -18.6%
Income balance -138.4 -575.0 -285.1 -64.7 -447.8 -22.1%
Net current transfers 182.9 1188.4 224.9 302.4 1455.4 22.5%
Capital Account 9.0 55.5 220.2 31.0 72.9 31.4%
Financial Account 690.7 1285.3 296.2 -158.0 -1213.3 /
Net FDI 188.6 1050.9 -250.4 172.8 670.0 -36.2%
Net Errors and Omissions -453.2 67.2 394.4 -174.0 391.4 482.6%
OVERALL BALANCE 344.4 463.4 556.4 -38.8 -517.8 /
Source: BNB            

 

 

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