Bulgaria's central bank reports a decline in foreign direct investment

Direct investments for January-February decreased by 58% compared to the same period of the previous year, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said on April 19.

In the first two months of 2023, direct investment was EUR 398.5 million, or 0.4% of GDP, dropping by by EUR 549.7 million from January-February 2022, when it was EUR 948.2 million, or 1.1% of GDP.

BNB said that cash flows are positive. The net flow from non-resident investment in real estate was also positive at EUR 0.4 million, compared with a negative net flow of EUR 3.9 million in January-February 2022.

The largest net investment inflows in Bulgaria for January 2023 were from Luxembourg at €116.2m, the Netherlands at €60.3m and Belgium at €47m.