Bulgaria's current account gap for the first quarter of 2006 amounted to nearly EUR 1.5 bln, up by EUR 790m compared to the year-ago period. The gap reached 6.1% of GDP. According to estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the gap is expected to exceed 12% of GDP on an annual basis. Foreign direct investments (FDI) for the first three months of 2006 amounted to EUR 860m, up from 560m in 2005. FDI covered 58.3% of the current account deficit, down from 70.6% for the corresponding period in 2005. Trade deficit for the first quarter of 2006 widened by EUR 366.2m to EUR 1.4 bln, or 4.7% of GDP, BNB balance of payments data showed. Imports totalled EUR 5 bln for the period, up 31.1% year on year. Exports went up by 29.3% to EUR 3.6 bln.