This report covers the key macroeconomic and financial releases for Bulgaria for the period from June 11, 2015 to July 10, 2015.

Fitch affirmed on June 19 Bulgaria's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at BBB- and BBB, respectively, with stable outlooks. Standard & Poor's affirmed on June 12 Bulgaria's BB+/B long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings with a stable outlook.

The World Bank has maintained its 2015 GDP growth forecast for Bulgaria at 1.1%, unchanged from January.

The country's business climate worsened m/m in June, following five consecutive months of improvement. The industrial production growth accelerated to 3.9% y/y in May from 1.6% y/y in April. The annual retail sales growth (at constant prices) speeded up to 0.8% in May from 0.5% in April. On the negative side, construction output fell y/y for the fifth consecutive month in May, with the decline deepening to 7% from 1.1% in April.

Key points:
• The consumer prices moved higher y/y for the third month in a row in May, rising 0.9%, following a 0.5% increase in April
• Bulgaria reported an estimated consolidated budget surplus of BGN850mn (€435mn), equal to 1% of the projected 2015 GDP, for January-June, the biggest first-half surplus since 2008, the finance ministry said in a preliminary estimate.
• The current account balance reported a surplus of €163.8mn in January-April, reversing a deficit of €436mn in the same period last year