Bulgaria Economy Faces Head-Spinning Decline, Romania Worse off

A beggar man counts his coins in front of a cash machine in Sofia, Bulgaria. Bulgaria's economy will be among the worst-hit by the global financial crisis countries and is expected to shrink by 5%-7% in 2009, according to experts, as cited by the Austria

Bulgaria's economy will be among the worst-hit by the global financial crisis countries on the Balkans and is expected to shrink by 5%-7% in 2009, according to experts, as cited by the Austrian newspaper Die Presse.

In an article about the impact of the financial turmoil on the countries from the peninsula, the newspaper points out that only Romania will be worse off, forecasts saying its economy will shrink by a whopping 8%.

Bulgaria, the European Union's poorest member, has already entered recession with its economy shrinking 5% from January to March and contracting 1.6% in the fourth quarter on a quarterly basis.

Bulgaria's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 3,5% in the first quarter of 2009 on an annual basis, the first time that the country's GDP marked a drop year-on-year since the financial and economic crisis in 1997.

The government expects the contraction of Bulgaria's economy to slow down to 2% next year from a 6,3% shrinking in 2009.

 

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