May 7 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Tuesday that it has further lowered its forecast for Bulgaria's economic expansion in 2019 to 3.3%, from 3.6% projected in February 2019.
The projection for Bulgaria's GDP growth in 2020 was also reduced - from 3.6% to 3.4%, the Commission said in its Spring 2019 Economic Forecast report.
In February, the EU's executive body lowered its forecast for Bulgaria's 2019 economic growth to 3.6% from 3.7% predicted in November 2018.
Yet, Bulgaria's expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in 2019 is the fourth highest among EU member states, at par with Romania's, data from the report showed.
Domestic demand, which mainly supported GDP growth last year, is expected to continue its expansion at a slower pace in 2019, due to more moderate private consumption.
"Exports are set to recover, as the one-off effects of 2018 dwindle. This should hold even if the subdued demand from major trading partners continue to weigh on the exports," the Commission said.
The major downside risk to the outlook remains the possibility of a sharp contraction in major export markets. In 2018, exports dragged down Bulgarian economic activity to 3.2% mainly due to lower demand from Turkey.
The accelerated inflation throughout 2018 slowed down to 2.3% at the end of the year. Despite the negative effects of last year's poor harvest and energy price hikes on the price levels at the beginning of 2019, inflation is set to decline to 2.0% in 2019 and 1.8% in 2020, the Commission predicted.