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The World Bank has raised its forecast for Bulgaria's economic growth in 2106 by 0.2 percentage points to 2.2%.
“The western part of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, which includes Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and the Western Balkans, is expected to grow moderately in 2016, supported by recovery in the euro area, [...] where output is projected to expand by an average of 1.7% in 2016–17, supported by accommodative ECB policies,” the World Bank said in the January 2016 edition of its Global Economic Prospects report.
The World Bank's new growth forecast for Bulgaria is close to the Bulgarian government's upwardly revised projection last year of a 2.1% increase in GDP in 2016.
Last Tuesday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov expressed the hope that the country’s economic growth rate would exceed government forecasts and reach 4.5%.
In its report, the World Bank also raised its estimate for Bulgaria’s GDP growth in 2015 to 2.9%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points over its June 2015 projections.
The Bank forecasts GDP growth of 2.7% for Bulgaria in 2017, unchanged from June 2015.
Growth in 2018 is also forecast at 2.7%.
The Bulgarian government projected economic growth of 2.5% for 2017 and 2.7% for 2018.
Looking at Bulgaria and Romania, the World Bank states that investment in the two EU Member States “is supported by European Structural and Investment Funds, although absorption capacity remains a challenge. Given the strong reliance on the banking sector to finance investment in the region, financial sector reforms can play an important role in strengthening credit intermediation capacity, thereby boosting investment and job creation”.