November 12 (SeeNews) - France-based credit insurance company Euler Hermes said on Tuesday that it has improved its forecast for Bulgaria's gross domestic product growth in 2019 by 0.5 percentage points to 3.5%, after analysing the results from the first half of the year.
However, Bulgaria's year-on-year rise in GDP slowed from 4.5% in the first quarter to 3.8% in the second, and the tendency is likely to continue, Euler Hermes said in a statement.
Euler Hermes expects that Bulgaria's GDP growth will slow down to 2.5% in 2020, as the reduced consumption in the Eurozone will hurt the country's exports.
The company estimates that in the January-August period of 2019, the number of insolvencies has increased by 10%. The rise in insolvencies is projected at 10% for the full 2019, and 2020.
However, insolvencies in the country are expected to mainly concern small and medium-sized enterprises.