Bulgaria’s gross external debt grows 2.9% YoY (-1.3% MoM) to EUR 34.1bn in Dec’19

Dec’19 gross external debt of Bulgaria increased 2.9% YoY to EUR 34.1bn (55.8% of GDPe*). YTD gross external debt of the government sector declined 1.9 % YoY and was EUR 5.4bn (8.9% of GDPe). Gross external debt of the banking sector added 6.5% as compared to December 2018 and stood at EUR 4.9bn (8% of GDPe). Gross external debt for Other sectors (16.9% of GDPe) went down 1.6% since the end of 2018 and amounted to EUR 10.3bn. Foreign investments in form of intercompany loans were EUR 13.5bn (22.1% of GDPe), which is an advancement of 7.4% YoY. *BNB’s 2019 GDP estimate is EUR 61.1bn.