September 19 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria reported a negative net flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) of 705.3 million euro ($704.2million) for the first seven months of 2022, compared to a negative FDI flow of 954.4 million euro in the same period of 2021, the central bank said on Monday.
The net FDI flow, calculated according to the directional principle, rose by 924.9 million euro, compared with an increase of 1.06 billion euro in the same period of last year, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a statement, citing preliminary data.
The net FDI inflow in the review period was equivalent to 1.2% of Bulgaria's gross domestic product (GDP) projected for 2022.
In July alone, Bulgaria recorded a positive direct investment flow from abroad of 158.5 million euro compared to a positive inflow of 202.5 million euro in July 2021.
Austria contributed most, 281.9 million euro, to the FDI inflow into Bulgaria in the first seven months of the year, followed by Belgium with 104 million euro and the British Virgin Islands with 101.7 million euro.
By contrast, the largest net outflows were registered to the Netherlands, of 155.4 million euro, and to Luxembourg, of 103.9 million euro, the central bank data showed.
There was a negative flow of 16.1 million euro in investments by foreign individuals in real estate in Bulgaria over the period, including an outflow of 12.3 million euro to Russia.
($ = 1. 0008 euro)