site.btaGeneral Government's Gross External Debt Down to EUR 5,576.3 Mln or 12.5 Per Cent of GDP at End-2015

General Government's Gross External Debt Down to EUR 5,576.3 Mln or 12.5 Per Cent of GDP at End-2015

Sofia, February 26 (BTA) - Bulgaria's gross external debt amounted to 34,143.6 million euro (76.5 per cent of GDP) at end-December 2015, decreasing by 5,212.8 million euro (13.2 per cent) from end-2014 (39,356.5 million euro, or 92.1 per cent of GDP), the Bulgarian National Bank said in a press release on Friday.

Long-term liabilities totalled 26,239.2 million euro (76.8 per cent of the total debt, and 58.8 per cent of GDP) at end-December 2015, down by 3,148.2 million euro (10.7 per cent) from end-2014 (29,387.4 million euro, 74.7 per cent of the total debt, 68.7 per cent of GDP).

Short-term liabilities equalled 7,904.4 million euro (23. 2 per cent of the total debt, 17.7 per cent of GDP), declining by 2,064.6 million euro (20.7 per cent) from end-2014 (9,969 million euro; 25.3 per cent of the total debt, 23.3 per cent of GDP).

The gross external debt of General Government totalled 5,576.3 million euro (12.5 per cent of GDP) at the end of December 2015. It decreased by 450.2 million euro (7.5 per cent) from end- 2014 (6,026.5 million euro, 14.1 per cent of GDP).

Banks' external debt totalled 4,126.4 million euro (9.2 per cent of GDP). It declined by 1,340.9 million euro (24.5 per cent) from end-2014 (5,467.2 million euro, 12.8 per cent of GDP).

The stock of intercompany lending amounted to 12,676.9 million euro (28.4 per cent of GDP) at end-December 2015, down by 3,200.9 million euro (20.2 per cent) from end-2014 (15,877.8 million euro, 37.1 per cent of GDP).

Gross external debt service totalled 8,192.2 million euro (18.4 per cent of GDP) in JanuaryЦDecember 2015, compared with 5,987.8 million euro (14 per cent of GDP) in the same period of 2014.

Net external debt totalled 6,911.8 million euro at end-December 2015. It dropped by 6,838.9 million euro (49.7 per cent) from end-2014 (13,750.7 million euro). The decrease was due to both the decline in gross external debt (by 5,212.8 million euro or 13. 2 per cent) and the increase in gross external assets (by 1,626.1 million euro or 6.4 per cent). Net external debt stood at 15.5 per cent of GDP, down by 16. 7 percentage points from end-2014 (32.2 per cent).