site.btaUnited Bulgarian Bank Projects 2.3% Economic Growth for 2024

During the first half of 2024, the Bulgarian economy grew by 2% in real terms from a year earlier, experts from United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) said in a press-release here on Thursday.

"Economic activity in the first half of 2024 was primarily driven by final consumption, which rose by 3.1% and accounted for a substantial 80.8% of GDP. In this context, investments surged by more than double that level, at an impressive rate of 7.2%, further bolstering the real growth of the economy, and accounted for 17.3% of GDP. Conversely, exports declined by 0.8%, outpacing the 0.7% decrease in imports compared to a year earlier," UBB chief economist Emil Kalchev said.

The outlook for the eurozone economy improved slightly as it performed better than expected in the second quarter (Q2).

"This development bodes well for the outlook of the Bulgarian economy; however, it does not justify adjusting our growth forecast of 2.3% for the entirety of 2024. The primary reason is the ailing German economy, Bulgaria's principal trading partner, which contracted by 0.1% in Q2, compared to Q1," Kalchev added.