Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria in the first seven months of 2020 stood at 1.41 billion euro, the equivalent of 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), statistics from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) showed on September 18.
In the same period of 2019, FDI was 912.6 million euro, but the original amount reported by BNB last year was 532.7 million euro, which was revised upward later.
Investment in equity, including in the real estate sector, showed an inflow of 118.3 million euro (compared to an outflow of 483.9 million euro in January-July 2019) and re-invested earnings were 331.7 million euro, compared to 243.7 million euro in the same period of last year.
Net receipts from real estate investments by foreign companies totalled an outflow of 0.2 million euro in the first seven months of 2020, compared to an inflow of 2.9 million euro during the same period of last year.
The central bank data showed 957.5 million euro in investment inflows as debt instruments, recorded as the change in the net liabilities of Bulgarian companies towards their foreign investor owners, compared to 1.15 billion euro in the first seven months of 2019. Such financial flows include financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities, BNB said.
By country, the largest direct investment in Bulgaria in January-July 2020 came from the Netherlands (192.8 million euro), Russia (121.1 million euro) and Hungary (107.2 million euro). Notable net outflows were recorded towards Switzerland (-98.4 million euro) and Ireland (-74.5 million euro).
According to preliminary figures, Bulgarian investment abroad increased by 74.6 million euro in January-July, compared to 229.2 million euro in the same period of last year, BNB said.
Source: https://sofiaglobe.com/
