Bulgaria’s current account deficit will reach 20 per cent of GDP, says the Centre for Economic Development (CED).

The CED said this in a report on the macro-economic development of the country in the first half of 2007, Focus news agency reported.
The current account deficit for the first five months of 2007, calculated on an annual basis, went up from seven to 9.7 per cent of GDP.

The nominal export and import rate decreased significantly in the first five months of 2007 compared to the same period of 2006.

CED co-chairperson Alexander Bozhkov said that one of the reasons that exports were decreasing was the lack of appropriate state policy in the sector.

He said that the country was failing to stimulate the introduction of new technology and investment in staff qualification courses.

The report’s overall evaluation of the economic situation in Bulgaria was positive. The CED expects an accelerated general economic growth of 6.6 to 6.7 per cent for the second quarter of 2007. The same figures are expected for the entire year.

The business climate in the country had also improved, the report said.

Bozhinov said that investment interest in Romania had increased because policies in Bulgaria’s northern neighbour were more effective.