February 13 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Monday it affirmed its forecast for Bulgaria’s economic growth in 2017 at 2.9%, with domestic demand remaining the main growth driver.
In 2018, gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to slow down slightly to 2.8%, the Commission said in its Winter 2017 Economic Forecast published on its website.
The Commission also said it increased its forecast for Bulgaria’s economic growth in 2016 to 3.3%, from 3.1% projected earlier.
Inflation is expected to turn positive in 2017 and reach 0.8%, due to strong domestic demand, rising prices of processed food and recovering energy prices.
The general government deficit is forecast at 0.5% of GDP in 2017, the Commission said.
The pace of private consumption growth is expected to slightly taper off from 3.2% in 2016 - to 2.9% in 2017 and 2.8% in 2018.
Employment growth is projected to increase to 1.1% in 2016 and to slow down slightly to 0.5% in 2017 and 0.2% in 2018, supported mainly by the recovery in domestic demand.
Together with the expected decrease in the labour force due to population ageing and emigration, this is likely to further reduce the unemployment rate to 7.1% in 2017 and slightly lower in 2018, the Commission said.
Further details about the Commission's projections for Bulgaria follow:
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
Real GDP |
3.3% |
2.9% |
2.8% |
Inflation |
-1.3% |
0.8% |
1.2% |
Private Consumption |
3.2% |
2.9% |
2.8% |
Public Consumption |
1.1% |
2.0% |
2.3% |
Exports (goods and services) |
5.1% |
4.4% |
4.5% |
Imports (goods and services) |
3.2% |
4.3% |
4.6% |
Unemployment Rate |
7.7% |
7.1% |
6.8% |
Current Account |
2.6% |
1.4% |
0.8% |
Budget Balance |
-0.3% |
-0.5% |
-0.3% |
source: European Commission