IMF Forecasts Bulgarian Economy to Grow by 2.3 % in 2016, 2017

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts the Bulgarian economy to register a growth of 2.3 % both this and next year.

This is revealed by the latest World Economic Outlook of IMF released on Tuesday.

The prediction of IMF suggests that Bulgaria's economic growth will remain below the 3 % figure registered last year.

The Bulgarian economic growth will remain below the average projected for the region of emerging and developing Europe. According to IMF, the average growth in the region will be 3.5 % in 2016 and 3.3 % in 2017.

Bulgaria's GDP is expected to be above the European average, which is projected at 2 % in 2016 and 2.1 % in 2017.

The unemployment rate in Bulgaria is projected to decrease from 9.2 % last year to 8.6 % this year and further to 7.9 % next year.

The IMF forecasts global growth to be at 3.2 % this year, slightly below the 3.4 % projected in the previous World Economic Outlook released in January.

IMF notes that global recovery continues, but at an ever-slowing and increasingly fragile pace.

The recovery is expected to pick up in 2017, reaching 3.5 %, mainly due to emerging markets and developing economies and normalising conditions in stressed economies.