The Bulgarian economy's growth slowed down to 1.9% in the second quarter of the year on an annual basis due to a decline in exports, data of the statistics office showed on Friday.

On quarterly basis, the emerging economy expanded a slim 0.1% from April through June.

The slowdown mainly came in the wake of a 0.5% quarterly fall in exports following first quarter's 4.6% increase. Imports however increased by 2.4% after 1% drop in the preceding three-month period.

The Bulgarian economy expanded by 3,4% in the first quarter of the year on an annual basis mainly thanks to the recovery in exports, revised data of the statistics office showed at the beginning of June, well above the flash data published a month ago.

The data from the first quarter marked the first considerable increase in economic growth since the country plunged into a recession and overshot analysts' forecasts, which set the GDP growth levels at about 1.5%.

The latest figures confirm local analysts' opinion that driven by strong exports, as well as the good performance of the industry and services sectors, the Bulgarian economy has started to expand, but too weakly and unsteadily.

Meanwhile the European bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) lowered its annual economic growth forecast for Bulgaria from 3.1% to 2.3% in 2011.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said earlier this year it expects Bulgaria's economy to grow 3% at the end of 2011 as a global recovery boosts exports demand in the EU.

All forecasts for the Bulgarian economy in 2011 are below the 3.6% growth projected by the Bulgarian government in its 2011 budget.