April 12 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it expects Bulgaria's real economy to expand by 1.4% in 2023, decreasing its October projection for a 3.0% growth this year.
Bulgaria's economic growth is expected to speed up to 3.5% in 2024, the global lender said in the April 2023 edition of its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP) went up by a real 3.4% in 2022, according to preliminary data published in March. The increase was below the 3.9% growth rate forecast by the IMF in October.
The IMF sees Bulgaria's consumer prices rising by 7.5% this year, higher than the 5.2% increase it predicted six months ago. In 2024, inflation is expected to decelerate to 2.2%. Bulgaria' average annual inflation was 15.3% in 2022.
The unemployment rate in the country is expected to edge up to 4.6% in 2023, 0.1 percentage point lower than the October projection, before decreasing to 4.4% in 2024.