September 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a real 6.4% on the year in the first half of 2007, faster than the revised 6.0% rise in the same period a year ago, the National Statistics Office (NSI) said on Tuesday.
The country's first-half GDP reached 24.5 billion levs ($17.346 billion/12.514 billion euro), calculated in current prices, NSI said in a statement.
The Bulgarian economy grew by 6.6% in the second quarter, compared to 6.2% in the first quarter and to 6.4% in the second quarter of 2006.
In 2006, the country's GDP grew by 6.1% in real terms, a bit slower than the 6.2% rise in 2005.
Bulgarian government officials have said they expect the country's economy to continue to grow at an annual rate of above 6.0% over the next few years. The International Monetary Fund too expects Bulgaria's economy to grow by a real 6.0% in each of 2007 and 2008.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)