Fitch Ratings has affirmed Bulgaria's long-term foreign-currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB' with a positive outlook.
Bulgaria intends to request a reassessment of its progress on convergence criteria in 2H24, which should allow for eurozone entry later in 2025. In Fitch's view, Bulgaria could comply with the price stability criterion in 4Q24 at the earliest, conditional on inflation developments across the EU.
Bulgaria is on course to meet all other euro-adoption nominal criteria (public finances, interest rate and exchange rate). Nonetheless, a lack of stable government and potentially lengthy coalition negotiations could delay the eurozone entry beyond 2025. Overall, we consider euro adoption as supportive to the rating, Fitch writes.
The Agency expects average HICP to be 3.3% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025, down from 8.6% in 2023. Fitch expects real GDP growth to accelerate to 2.4% in 2024 and further to 3.1% in 2025.
The annual growth of incomes outpaced that of expenses in 2024. According to data from the National Statistical Institute, in 2024 the average annual total income per household member in Bulgaria reached 12,857 BGN (6,573.68 EUR) and increased by 18.5%..
The pig meat sector in Bulgaria is showing signs of growth. This was announced at the International Forum "Modern Trends in Pig Farming: Scientific, Market and Regulatory Aspects", held today in Stara Zagora. It was highlighted that 53% of the..
The total output at basic prices from the agriculture sector in 2024 amounts to €4,970.1 million, which is 7.9% less compared to the previous year. This decline is due to two main factors: a 3.2% decrease in the quantity of agricultural..
The liberalization of the electricity market for household consumers and their entering the free electricity market, something companies did years..
Bulgaria's main trading partners are Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece and France, which account for 62.5% of exports to EU Member..
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