Bulgaria's Finmin Targets GDP Growth of 3.7% in 2019, 3.5% in 2020
Bulgaria's ministry of finance said on Monday that it expects the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth to slow down from a real 3.7% in 2019 to 3.5% in both 2020 and 2021. The country's GDP is expected to rise by a real 3.6% to 108.1 billion levs ($63.5 million/55.3 million euro) this year, the finance ministry said in its midterm budget forecast. Last year Bulgaria's economy expanded by 3.8%.The growth of the country's exports is expected to remain heavily outpaced by the rise in imports. Bulgaria's exports are projected to increase by 2.3% this year, followed by 2.8% growth in both 2019 and 2020, and 2.7% in 2021.The growth of imports is expected to accelerate from 5.3% this year to 6.7% in 2019. After that, imports growth is expected to slightly slow down to 4.1% in 2020 before picking up again to 4.6% in 2021.Annual average inflation is seen accelerating from 2.7% in 2018 to 3.0% next year, followed by a slow down to 2.5% in 2020 and 2.3% in 2021.Foreign direct investment is expected to stay flattish at 3.6% in 2018 and 2019, and at 3.5% in the following two years.