site.btaBulgaria's Current and Capital Account Surplus Doubled in May 2024, Y/Y

Bulgaria’s current and capital account recorded a positive balance of EUR 305.2 million in May 2024, compared with a surplus of EUR 151.5 million in the same month of last year. In January – May 2024, the current and capital account was positive, exceeding EUR 1.4 million, or 1.4% of projected GDP, compared with a surplus of EUR 9 million (0.01% of GDP) in January – May 2023. This transpired from a Bulgarian National Bank press release on the May 2024 balance of payments made public on Wednesday.

The current account was positive in May 2024, amounting to EUR 185.3 million, compared with a positive balance of EUR 40.8 million in May 2023. In the first five months of this year, the current account was also positive and amounted to EUR 468.3 million (0.5% of GDP), compared with a deficit of EUR 397.6 million (0.4% of GDP) in January – May 2023.

The balance on goods recorded a deficit of EUR 475.1 million in May 2024, compared with a negative balance of EUR 253 million in the same month last year. In January – May 2024, the balance was negative amounting to EUR 1,973.1 million, or 2% of GDP, compared with a deficit of EUR 1.1 million, or 1.2% of GDP, in the like period in 2023.

The deterioration in the balance on goods is due to an anticipatory decline in exports of goods relative to their imports in the first five months of 2024.

The data show an opposite trend when it comes to services, which recorded a positive balance of EUR 539.6 million in May 2024, compared with a surplus of EUR 441.8 million in May 2023. In January – May 2024, services recorded a surplus of 2.4% of GDP, up by 2.1% year-on-year.

The net primary income, which reflects the receipt and payment of income related to the use of resources such as labour, capital, land, taxes of production, imports, and subsidies, recorded a deficit of EUR 13.5 million, compared with a deficit of EUR 257.8 million in May 2023 . In January – May 2024, the balance on primary income was negative, equating to 0.5% of GDP, down from 1.7% year-on-year.

The net secondary income, which reflects the redistribution of income, has a positive balance and shows an improvement on an annual basis.

BNB also reported a capital account surplus of 0.9% of the country’s GDP in January – May 2024, compared with 0.4% in the like period in 2023.