UPDATE 1 - Bulgaria's 9-Mo C/A Gap Widens to 15.8% of GDP - Table

The country's current account deficit rose to 5.381 billion euro ($6.743 billion) in the first nine months of 2008 from 3.900 billion euro a year earlier, the central bank said in a statement.

In September alone, Bulgaria had a current account deficit of 535.5 million euro versus a deficit of 541.8 million euro in September 2007.

The central bank has revised the current account gap figure for the first nine months of 2007 to 13.5% of GDP from an earlier 13.8% of GDP.

Details follow:

Foreign direct investments in the country covered 68% of the current account deficit for the first nine months, compared to 120.9% in the year-ago period.

Bulgaria ended 2007 with a revised current account deficit of 21.8% of the GDP, up from 17.8% a year earlier. For 2008, the government in Sofia expects a current account gap similar to last year's shortfall.

($ = 0.7981 euro)