Bulgaria's public debt, excluding state guarantees, fell 5.5% m/m to EUR 6.52bn at end-August 2013 and was equal to 15.9% of the full-year GDP forecast (down from 17.5% a year earlier), according to finance ministry data. The decline was due to the repayment of the short-term BGN 800mn (EUR 409mn) bond the government issued on the local debt market in February. However, data for September will show a new increase in public debt following the auction of 1-year T-bills in the beginning of the month when the government borrowed BGN 300mn from the domestic market.
Compared to a year earlier, the public debt declined 6.1% y/y in August, following a 2.1% drop posted in July. This was mainly due to the high base in July 2012 when Bulgaria placed a EUR 950mn Eurobond in order to repay maturing debt.
Domestic debt decreased 12% m/m to EUR 2.8bn at end-August 2013 but rose 17.6% y/y. External debt remained flat on a monthly basis but fell 18.8% in annual terms.
The publicly-guaranteed debt fell 1.1% m/m to EUR 442.4mn at end-August, accounting for 1.08% of 2013's projected GDP.
| General government debt, EUR mn | Dec-10 | Dec-11 | Dec-12 | Apr-13 | May-13 | Jun-13 | Jul-13 | Aug-13 |
| total | 5,385 | 5,946 | 6,991 | 6,890 | 6,937 | 6,926 | 6,907.3 | 6,524.9 |
| domestic | 2,012 | 2,458 | 2,547 | 3,144 | 3,189 | 3,209 | 3,200.2 | 2,817.2 |
| external | 3,374 | 3,488 | 4,445 | 3,746 | 3,748 | 3,717 | 3,707.1 | 3,707.7 |
| m/m, % | ||||||||
| total | 2 | 5.91 | -0.62 | 0.08 | 0.68 | -0.16 | -0.26 | -5.54 |
| domestic | 2.4 | 8.3 | 0 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.63 | -0.27 | -11.97 |
| external | 1.78 | 4.28 | -0.96 | -1.05 | 0.05 | -0.84 | -0.26 | 0.02 |
| y/y, % | ||||||||
| total | 11.5 | 10.4 | 17.6 | 12.3 | 14.4 | 14.72 | -2.11 | -6.08 |
| domestic | 30.7 | 22.2 | 3.6 | 20.2 | 28.9 | 29.24 | 26.87 | 17.62 |
| external | 2.5 | 3.4 | 27.4 | 6.4 | 4.3 | 4.58 | -18.23 | -18.55 |
| Source: Central bank |
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