Bulgaria’s 2016 CA surplus at 3.9% of the GDP; FDI declined by 59.7% YoY to EUR 682.8m

Bulgaria’s 2016 current account came to a surplus of EUR 1 809.6m (3.9% of GDP*) vs a surplus of EUR 172.4m (0.4% of the GDP) for 2015. The annual trade deficit was EUR 1 789.9m (3.8% of the GDP), compared to a deficit of EUR 2 622.4m (5.8% of the GDP) for the previous year, as the exports (FOB) increased by BGN 723.2m YoY to EUR 22.6bn, while the imports decreased by EUR 109.2m YoY to EUR 24.4bn. The cumulative financial account closed at positive EUR 3 098.6m (net outflow according to BPM6) against positive EUR 3 146.4m in 2015. The FDI declined to EUR 682.8m from EUR 1 692.4m; the net portfolio investments closed at negative EUR 642.7m (net inflow), vs negative EUR 577.4m for the previous year; and net other investments were positive EUR 829.7m, opposed to positive EUR 1 576.5m in 2015. *exp. 2016 GDP of EUR 46 974m and 2015 GDP of EUR 45 286m