Bulgaria's Q2 GDP Rises 0.3% Q/Q, Up 0.5% Y/Y
Bulgaria's gross domestic product (GDP) edged up 0.3% on the quarter and expanded by 0.5% on the year in the three months through June, seasonally-adjusted data of the country's statistics office indicated.
A flash estimate released in August put Bulgaria's economic growth at 0.2% quarter-on-quarter and at 0.5% year-on-year.
In the first quarter of 2012, the country's GDP remained unchanged from the previous three months and expanded by 0.5% year-on-year, according to seasonally-adjusted data.
GDP totalled 19.01 billion levs ($12.23 billion/9.72 billion euro) at current prices in the April-June period, according to preliminary data, NSI said in a statement.
Gross value added increased by 0.6% compared to the first quarter of 2012, but went down by 0.3% compared to the same quarter of 2011.
Agriculture increased its share in the gross value added of the economy by 0.5 percentage points on the year to 5.4% in the second quarter of 2012. The share of industrial sector reached 33.4%, down by 0.5 percentage points. The share of services remained flat at 61.2%.
Last year Bulgaria's economy expanded by a real 1.7%, compared to an increase of 0.4% in 2010.
The government in Sofia has projected real economic growth of 2.3% in the 2012 state budget. It expects the country's economy to grow by between 2.5% and 4.0% annually in the 2013-2015 period.
In May, the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for Bulgaria's 2012 economic growth to 0.8% from 1.3% projected at the end of last year, mostly reflecting external headwinds.
