Bulgaria 5-mo c/a deficit hits 9.3% of GDP

Bulgaria's c/a deficit climbed to an all-time record high of 3.059 bln euro by the end of May, reaching 9.3% of GDP, shows data of the central bank.

The gap is 0.4 percentage points wider year-on-year. The increased trade deficit was once again the biggest drag on the c/a. It rose 664.2 mln euro to 3.365 bln euro, up 25% year-on-year.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) covered less of the c/a deficit that it did a year ago. It fell to 1.705 bln euro by end-May 2008 versus 2.02 bln euro a year earlier.

Experts said the FDI figure should not be interpreted as a definitive trend as the bulk of the foreign investment is tallied up after the end of the calendar year.

Q1 real estate investment is down to 333.4 mln euro, a two-year low. The pullback is blamed on the more cautious lending policy of the banks.

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