Bulgaria's capital and current accounts record surplus in H1 2011
Bulgaria's current and capital accounts recorded a surplus of 602.8 million euro in the first half of this year, equivalent to 1.5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) targeted by the Cabinet in 2011, preliminary data by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) showed on August 15.By comparison, the country's current and capital accounts ran a 889.8 million euro deficit in the same period of 2010, or 2.5 per cent of GDP.A major factor for the increase in the current account balance was the lower trade gap recorded in the period, which contracted by 865.9 million euro.Although the trade balance was negative in the first half of the year, it showed a significant improvement on an annual basis, as the deficit shrank to 488.2 million euro so far this year, or 1.3 per cent of GDP, against a 1.354 billion euro trade gap in the same period of 2010, equivalent to 3.8 per cent of GDP.In June alone, however, imports outpaced exports by 175 million euro compared to 155.1 million euro the previous year.The balance of services between January and June was positive at 658.7 million euro, up by nearly 270 million euro in annual terms./Source: The Sofia Echo/