Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria in the first half of the year stood at 387.8 million euro, the equivalent of 0.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), statistics from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) showed on August 16.
In the same period of 2023, FDI was 1.94 billion euro, although BNB originally reported 1.8 billion euro, which was revised upward later.
Investment in equity, including in the real estate sector, was 250 million euro (compared to 426.9 million euro in January-June 2023) and the BNB figures showed 589.8 million euro in re-invested earnings (compared to 1.6 billion euro for the first six months of last year.)
Net receipts from real estate investments by foreign companies recorded a net outflow of 1.3 million euro, compared to a net outflow of 7.2 million euro recorded in the first half of 2023.
The central bank data showed 451.9 million euro in investment outflows as debt instruments, recorded as the change in the net liabilities of Bulgarian companies towards their foreign investor owners, compared to an outflow of 92.5 million euro in the first six months of 2023. Such financial flows include financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities, BNB said.
By country, the largest direct investment in Bulgaria in the first half of 2024 came from the Netherlands (222.1 million euro), Austria (160.8 million euro), and Cyprus (147.5 million euro). Notable net outflows were recorded towards Russia (-190.2 million euro) and Poland (-80.3 million euro).
According to preliminary figures, Bulgarian investment abroad increased by 256.6 million euro in January-June, compared to 367.9 million euro in the first six months of last year, BNB said.
(Photo: Miroslav Sárička/sxc.hu)
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