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 |
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