A mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Bulgaria from October 18 to 25 to evaluate the country’s economic performance and discuss possibilities in 2007.

Bulgaria’s economic performance is strong. The GDP growth rate is expected to reach six per cent as a result of the high investment in the country.

Inflation would decrease to 4.8 per cent by the end of the year, IMF representatives said as quoted by Bulgarian National Radio.

One of the problems that the country still has to deal with is the high current account deficit. It could reach up to 14 per cent of the GDP by the end of the year.

This increase would result from the strong dynamism in the private sector, which could become even higher because of the easy access to credits. These negative tendencies would remain similar in 2007, the national radio reported.

Bulgarian authorities carried out sound fiscal policies. The budget surplus in 2006 could reach up to 3.3 per cent of the GDP, IMF predicted. Officials should try to keep inflation under control and should attempt decreasing the high current account deficit.