The Bulgarian economy is expected to grow moderately this and next year, according to projections of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In 2015 the IMF says GDP will be up 1.2%, and in 2016 gross output will increase by 1.5 percent. This is less compared to last year, when growth was at 1.7%.
IMF forecasts released as part of the World Economic Outlook report, made available over the weekend, suggest Bulgaria cannot pin its hopes on catch-up growth on which many governments in the EU's poorest nation have relied.
Bulgaria is still ranked as part of "Emerging and Developing Europe", though so are other EU member states from Eastern Europe, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Croatia.
Among them, however, the country has the second-worst GDP forecast for 2015-2016, outpacing only Croatia whose economy contracted 0.4% in 2014 and will grow sluggishly in 2015 (0.5%) and 2016 (0.1%).
To compare, Poland's GDP will enjoy a stable growth of 3.5% in 2015-2016, up from 3.3% last year. This is also close to the "Emerging and Developing Europe" average levels (the region also includes Turkey and Serbia): it grew 2.8% in 2014 and economies are projected to increase by 2.9% and 3.2% in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
In terms of current account balance, Bulgaria had a zero current account balance last year and should not expect severe fluctuations in 2015 (0.2% of GDP), though this will change the year after (negative 0.8% of GDP).
Unemployment is projected to gradually decrease from 11.5% this year to 10.9% in 2015 and 10.3% in 2016, above rates of other "developing" EU states except Croatia (17.1% in 2014, 17.3% in 2015, 16.9% in 2016).
The table contains a footnote reading that "emerging" European countries include Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro, though economic data for these is not included.