Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria for the first two months of the year totalled  EUR 81 M,equivalent to 0.2% of the projected 2016 GDP,the central bank said on Monday citing preliminary data.

This compared with FDI in Bulgaria of EUR 486.4 M in January-February 2015, or 1.1% of 2015 GDP as reported by the state statistical office NSI.

In February 2016 alone FDI in Bulgaria grew by EUR 36.1 M, compared with an increase of EUR 163 M in the same month of last year, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a monthly FDI bulletin.

Equity investment for the first two months of this year dropped by EUR 800,000 compared to the same period last year, reaching EUR 30.2 M.

Investment in real estate by non-residents totalled EUR 4.8 M in January-February 2016, down from EUR 8.7 M a year earlier. The largest inflow of real estate investment in the first two months of 2016 came from Russia (EUR 1.2 M), followed by  the USA (EUR 700,000).

According to preliminary data, direct investment abroad by Bulgarian residents forthe first two months of 2016 increased to EUR 28.9 M from EUR 6.3 M a year earlier.

The data for January – February 2016 will be revised with the March 2016 report, the BNB said.