Bulgaria posts 0.3% GDP gap in January

Bulgaria’s current account switched back to a small deficit in January, after staying positive through most of last year, central bank data showed, mainly due to a drop in exports. The deficit amounted to 0.3 per cent of gross domestic product in January, up from a 0.2 per cent deficit in the same month a year ago, data showed on Thursday. The current account, which measures the flow of goods, services and investment into and out of the small emerging economy, posted a deficit of 112 million euros ($146 million) in January, data showed. The centre-right cabinet expects the current account to switch back to a surplus of about one per cent at the end of December. Bulgaria, European Union’s poorest state, ended 2011 with a surplus of 1.9 per cent of GDP. But a looming recession in the eurozone, Bulgaria’s key trading partner, along with unfavourable weather in January, hit its exports. They decreased by 10.2 per cent on an annual basis in January, after growing 75 per cent in the same month a year ago. Imports also dropped in the first month of the year, but by just 0.3 per cent, central bank data showed.