SOFIA (Bulgaria), July 6 (SeeNews) – Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria said it has increased its projection for the country’s economic growth to 3.7% in 2017, up from 3.3% projected in its previous forecast.
"For the 2017, we expect real GDP growth of 3.7% compared to a previous forecast of 3.3% growth. The economic growth will be driven primarily by consumption and, to a lesser extent, by investments that we expect to remain at low levels due to poor absorption of EU funds over the year and lower public investment," Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria said in a statement on Wednesday. "Consumption will increase due to higher wages, falling interest rates and rising inflation."
Bulgaria's economy expanded by 3.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, after growing by 3.4% in the previous quarter, due to a strong rise in consumption, the national statistical office NSI said earlier, citing preliminary data.
According to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections issued in April, the Bulgarian economy will grow by 2.9% in 2017.
In 2016, Bulgaria's economy expanded by 3.4%. Calculated in current prices, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) totalled 92.6 billion levs ($50.12 billion/47.4 billion euro) in 2016, according to NSI data.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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