Bulgaria’s gross foreign debt totalled EUR 38.2B as of end-August, increasing 2.2% from a year earlier and 2.3% higher compared with end-2013, the central bank has said.

Gross foreign debt was equivalent to 94.3% of projected 2014 Gross Domestic Product as of end-August, the Bulgarian National Bank said in a statement on Thursday.

Long-term debt amounted to EUR 29.2B at end-August 2014, growing by 5.1% from end-2013. On a year-on-year basis, long-term debt increased by 8.2%.

Short-term debt was EUR 8.99B, decreasing by 5.8% from end-2013. Compared with August 2013, short-term debt dropped by 13.4%.

General government gross foreign debt totalled EUR 4.8B at end-August, growing by 40% from end-2013 mainly due to the issue of global bonds by the government that were held by non-residents. Compared with August 2013, general government gross foreign debt increased by 45.2%. 

Bulgaria’s gross foreign debt service in the first eight months of the year totalled EUR 2.8B equivalent to 6.9% of 2014 projected GDP.This compared with EUR 4.0B (10.1% of GDP) in January-August 2013. 

Net foreign debt (gross external debt less gross assets in foreign debt instruments) totalled EUR 13.9B at the end of August, falling by 5.6% from end-2013 due to the larger increase in gross external assets (by 7.5%) compared with the 2.3% rise in gross foreign debt.

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