Bulgaria’s Jan-May current account swings into surplus on strong export growth

By bne IntelliNews July 20, 2015

Bulgaria's current account balance reported a surplus of €206.2mn in January-May, reversing a deficit of €472.9mn in the same period last year, mainly on the back of solid export growth that helped narrow the trade gap, preliminary central bank data showed. The five-month surplus is equal to 0.5% of GDP.

The merchandise trade deficit shrank 34.2% y/y to €1.07bn in the first five months of the year as exports rose 13.4% y/y to €9.02bn and imports increased 5.3% y/y to €10.1bn. In addition, the secondary income surplus went up 9.1% y/y to €1.02bn and the services surplus climbed 9.4% y/y to €590.8mn. On the other hand, the primary income deficit widened by 4.5% y/y to €328.8mn.

In May alone, the current account balance was a surplus of €51.3mn, compares to a deficit of €36.9mn in May 2014.

In its latest World Economic Outlook report from April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected a current account surplus of 0.2% of GDP for 2015, reversing into a 0.8% deficit in 2016. The European Commission expects a surplus of 1.3% of GDP this year, edging down to 1.2% next year.

Current Account, €mn        
  2014   2015  
  May Jan-May May Jan-May
Current Account -37 -473 51 206
- Credit 2,481 11,875 2,610 13,111
- Debit 2,517 12,348 2,559 12,904
Goods and Services -97 -1,091 -41 -483
- Credit 2,250 10,256 2,308 11,323
- Debit 2,347 11,348 2,349 11,806
Goods -249 -1,631 -145 -1,074
- Credit 1,707 7,960 1,921 9,025
- Debit 1,956 9,592 2,065 10,099
Services 152 540 104 591
- Credit 543 2,296 388 2,298
- Debit 391 1,756 284 1,707
Primary Income -18 -315 -48 -329
Secondary Income 78 933 140 1,018
Source: Central bank        
Read in IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Turkish lira’s chronic weakness credit negative for Turkey’s sovereign rating says Moody’s

The chronic weakness of the Turkish lira (TRY) is credit negative for Turkey’s sovereign debt rating and poses ... more

S&P raises Poland’s outlook to positive on rosy prospects of economy in 2018

Standard and Poor’s raised its outlook for Poland from stable to positive on April 13, while maintaining the country’s rating at BBB+.  The raising of the outlook is based on ... more

Iran 'readying move to switch all foreign transactions from dollars to euros'

Central Bank of Iran (CBI) governor Valiollah Seif has said the cabinet is planning to push ahead with proposals to replace the dollar with the euro for all transactions conducted with foreign ... more

Most Read

  1. Romanian developers get in the game
    3 days ago
  2. Putin and Trump trying to walk back Syria strike and sanctions tensions
    4 days ago
  3. What’s the cost of US sanctions on Russia?
    5 days ago
  4. E-commerce dramatically eats into foot traffic at Moscow’s leading shopping malls
    15 days ago
  5. Romania entrepreneur aims to put home-grown UAV defence technology industry on the map
    5 days ago
  1. Fears raised of US conditioning F-35s sale on Turkey cancelling S-400 deal with Russia
    25 days ago
  2. COMMENT: Whisper it – ‘Erdonomics’ could be driving Turkey to a meltdown
    12 days ago
  3. Romanian developers get in the game
    3 days ago
  4. KRUK REPORT: Nadia Savchenko, Ukraine’s fallen hero
    30 days ago
  5. Putin and Trump trying to walk back Syria strike and sanctions tensions
    4 days ago

Selected articles from our premium news/views wire IntelliNews Pro

Login to IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Reports

Dismiss