Balance of Payments, 18.01.2022

PRESS RELEASE

18 January 2022 12:00

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS1

November 2021

The current and capital account recorded a deficit of EUR 178.9 million in November 2021, compared with a deficit of EUR 207.9 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the current and capital account was positive amounting to EUR 363.4 million (0.6% of GDP2), compared with a surplus of EUR 852.8 million (1.4% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

				Current and Capital Account
EUR		Trade Balance		Services, net			Primary Income, net
million		Secondary Income, net	Capital Account			Current and Capital Account
80 0
60 0
40 0			365.4
							267.3
							202.7	194.2
20 0
0	-67.4				-3.0	-70.1				-92.3	14.5
-97.9
										-178.9
-207.9				-238.7
-200
-400
-600
-800
XI'20	XII'20	I'21	II'21	III'21	IV'21	V'21	VI'21	VII'21	VIII'21	IX'21	X'21	XI'21

The current account was negative amounting to EUR 346.3 million in November 2021, compared with a negative balance amounting to EUR 271 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the current account was negative and amounted to EUR 477.3 million (0.7% of GDP), compared with a deficit of EUR 7.6 million (0.01% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

The balance on goods recorded a deficit of EUR 562.8 million in November 2021, compared with a deficit of EUR 317.9 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the balance on goods was negative amounting to EUR 2,802.9 million (4.3% of GDP), compared with a deficit of EUR 1,646.9 million (2.7% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

Exports of goods amounted to EUR 3,171.7 million in November 2021, increasing by EUR 709.4 million (28.8%) from EUR 2,462.3 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 exports of goods totalled EUR 31,156.7 million (47.4% of GDP), increasing by EUR 6,122.5 million (24.5%) year-on-year (from EUR 25,034.3 million, 40.8% of GDP). In January - November 2020 exports decreased by 7.4% year-on-year.

• The analysis is based on the standard presentation of the balance of payments, compiled in accordance with the Sixth Edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual. Preliminary data. In accordance with the practice of the BNB and the data revision requirements of the ECB (included in the ECB Timetable for Exchange of Balance of Payments, International Investment Position and Reserve Assets Statistics within the ESCB), the data for October 2021 have been revised. The data for the period October - November 2021 are to be revised with the December 2021 report.
  2 GDP amounting to EUR 65,670 million for 2021 (BNB forecast), and EUR 61,330 million for 2020 (NSI data as of 18.10.2021).

Imports of goods amounted to EUR 3,734.5 million in November 2021, increasing by EUR 954.3 million (34.3%) from November 2020 (EUR 2,780.2 million). In January - November 2021 imports of goods totalled EUR 33,959.6 million (51.7% of GDP), up by EUR 7,278.5 million (27.3%) from January - November 2020 (EUR 26,681.1 million, 43.5% of GDP). In January - November 2020 imports dropped by 9.1% year-on-year.

Services recorded a positive balance of EUR 220.2 million in November 2021, compared with a surplus of EUR 211.1 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 services recorded a surplus of EUR 4,027.3 million (6.1% of GDP) compared with a positive balance of EUR 2,833 million (4.6% of GDP) in the same period of 2020.

The net primary income (which reflects the receipt and payment of income related to the use of resources (labour, capital, land), taxes of production and imports and subsidies) recorded a deficit of EUR 36.3 million, compared with a deficit of EUR

127.7 million in November 20203. In January - November 2021 the balance on primary income was negative and equated to EUR 2,436.9 million (3.7% of GDP), compared with a deficit of EUR 2,006.6 million (3.3% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

The net secondary income (which reflects the redistribution of income) recorded a surplus of EUR 32.7 million, compared with a deficit of EUR 36.5 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the net secondary income was positive amounting to EUR 735.3 million (1.1% of GDP), compared with a positive balance of EUR 812.9 million (1.3% of GDP) in the same period of 2020.

The capital account recorded a surplus of EUR 167.4 million, compared with a positive balance of EUR 63.1 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the capital account recorded a surplus of EUR 840.7 million (1.3% of GDP), compared with a positive balance of EUR 860.4 million (1.4% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

The financial account recorded a negative balance of EUR 491.4 million, compared with a positive balance of EUR 425.4 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the financial account recorded a net inflow of EUR 2,910.9 million (4.4% of GDP) compared with an inflow of EUR 2,734.8 million (4.5% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

Financial account

				Direct invest ment, net				Portfolio investment, net
				Financial de rivatives (other than reserves)			Other investment, net
EUR				and employee stock options, net
			Reserve assets				Financial account
million
35 00
30 00
25 00
20 00
15 00		780.0			873.3	769.7
10 00	425.4	549.3
				393.6
				198.2	178.2
50 0		-113.7		105.9			-38.4
0										-407.4-491.4
-500

-1000-1500-2000-2500-3000

XI'20

XII'20

I'21

II'21

III'21

IV'21

V'21

VI'21

VII'21

VIII'21

IX'21

X'21

XI'21

The balance on direct investment was negative amounting to EUR 146.8 million, compared with a negative balance of EUR 50.6 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 direct investment recorded an outflow of EUR 1,128.3 million (1.7% of GDP), compared with a negative balance of EUR 2,205.6 million (3.6% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

Direct investment - assets grew by EUR 12.4 million compared with a decline of EUR 1.8 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 direct investment - assets grew by EUR 700.4 million (1.1% of GDP) compared with an increase of EUR 322 million (0.5% of GDP) in the same period of 2020.

• The preliminary data are subject to revisions with the quarterly reports of enterprises.

2

Direct investment - liabilities grew by EUR 159.2 million in November 2021, compared with an increase of EUR 48.8 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 direct investment - liabilities grew by EUR 1,828.7 million (2.8% of GDP), compared with an increase of EUR 2,527.6 million (4.1% of GDP) in the same period of 2020.

Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria(under the directional principle) grew by EUR 130.6 million in November 2021 according to preliminary data, compared with an increase of EUR 64.9 million in November 20204. In January - November 2021 foreign direct investment in Bulgaria increased by EUR 1,277.1 million, compared with an increase of EUR 2,387.2 million in January - November 2020.

Direct investment abroaddropped by EUR 16.2 million in November 2021, compared with an increase of EUR 14.4 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 direct investment abroad grew by EUR 148.8 million, compared with an increase of EUR 181.6 million in January - November 2020.

More detailed information on direct investment is available in Annex 2 - Direct Investment (January - November 2021), and the data series can be found under Statistics/External Sector/Direct Investments on the BNB website.

The balance on portfolio investment was negative amounting to EUR 7.3 million, compared with a positive balance of EUR 354.6 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the balance was positive and equated to EUR 1,768.5 million (2.7% of GDP), compared with a positive balance of EUR 499.2 million (0.8% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

Portfolio investment - assets grew by EUR 106.5 million compared with an increase of EUR 155.9 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 they grew by EUR 1,902.3 million (2.9% of GDP) compared with an increase of EUR 2,087.8 million (3.4% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

Portfolio investment - liabilities grew by EUR 113.7 million compared with a decline of EUR 198.7 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 portfolio investment - liabilities increased by EUR 133.8 million compared with an increase of EUR 1,588.5 million in January - November 2020.

The balance on other investment was negative amounting to EUR 994.2 million, compared with a positive balance of EUR 570.4 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 the balance was positive and equated to EUR 1,514.4 million (2.3% of GDP), compared with an inflow of EUR 653.2 million (1.1% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

Other investment - assets dropped by EUR 689.4 million, compared with an increase of EUR 616.6 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 they grew by EUR 3,946.4 million (6% of GDP) compared with a decline of EUR 153.3 million (0.2% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

Other investment - liabilities grew by EUR 304.8 million compared with an increase of EUR 46.2 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 they increased by EUR 2,432 million (3.7% of GDP) compared with a decline of EUR 806.5 million (1.3% of GDP) in January - November 2020.

The BNB reserve assets5 increased by EUR 647.1 million, compared with a decline of EUR 451.7 million in November 2020. In January - November 2021 they grew by EUR 678.9 million (1% of GDP), compared with an increase of EUR 3,824.6 million (6.2% of GDP) in the same period of 2020.

The net errors and omissions6 were negative amounting to EUR 312.5 million compared with a positive value of EUR 633.3 million in November 2020. According to preliminary data, the item was positive totalling EUR 2,547.6 million (3.9% of GDP) in January - November 2021, compared with a positive value of EUR 1,882 million (3.1% of GDP) in the same period of 2020.

____________

• When comparing the data year-on-year, please note that the initial FDI data for January - November 2020, published in the BNB press release on 19.01.2021, have been subsequently revised (www.bnb.bg, section Press Office/Statistical Press Releases/Balance of Payments).
  5 Excluding valuation changes due to exchange rate or price changes, changes associated with the creation of reserve assets (monetisation/demonetisation of gold and allocation or cancellation of SDRs), and reclassifications.
  6 Net errors and omissions represent the difference between the financial account balance and the current and capital account balance. Due to the quarterly and annual reporting periodicity, these data are preliminary and are subject to revisions when complete data are available.

3

								Annex 1
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS OF BULGARIA
	STANDARD PRESENTATION 1
								(EUR mln.)
			Monthly figures		Cumulated figures	Twelve-month cumulated figures
				January - November	ending
		Nov 2020	Nov 2021	Change	2020	2021	Nov 2020	Nov 2021
Current and Capital Account		-207.9	-178.9	29.0	852.8	363.4	585.4	296.0
Current Account		-271.0	-346.3	-75.2	-7.6	-477.3	-366.7	-630.8
Current Account - Credit		3214.2	4028.7	814.6	34327.1	42474.0	37543.6	45571.4
Current Account - Debit		3485.2	4375.0	889.8	34334.7	42951.3	37910.3	46202.3
Goods and Services - Net		-106.8	-342.6	-235.8	1186.1	1224.4	825.2	1152.0
Goods and Services - Credit		3028.9	3808.4	779.5	31616.0	39372.7	34446.7	42239.4
Goods and Services - Debit		3135.7	4151.0	1015.3	30429.9	38148.3	33621.5	41087.4
Goods - Net 2		-317.9	-562.8	-244.8	-1646.9	-2802.9	-2233.2	-3101.4
Goods - Credit		2462.3	3171.7	709.4	25034.3	31156.7	27127.0	33394.1
Goods - Debit		2780.2	3734.5	954.3	26681.1	33959.6	29360.1	36495.5
Services - Net		211.1	220.2	9.0	2833.0	4027.3	3058.3	4253.5
Services - Credit		566.6	636.6	70.0	6581.7	8215.9	7319.7	8845.3
Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others		-0.3	-1.4	-1.1	217.6	157.6	231.1	179.2
Maintenance and repair services not included elsewhere (n.i.e.)		23.1	18.6	-4.5	176.8	188.1	189.5	203.1
Transport 3		122.1	126.8	4.8	1379.6	1600.6	1509.1	1709.9
Travel 4		73.1	112.0	38.9	1355.7	1971.3	1528.2	2040.8
Other services5		348.6	380.6	32.0	3451.9	4298.4	3861.8	4712.3
Services - Debit		355.5	416.5	61.0	3748.7	4188.6	4261.4	4591.8
Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others		4.5	3.2	-1.4	45.4	43.7	47.1	47.5
Maintenance and repair services not included elsewhere (n.i.e.)		2.2	4.1	1.9	41.2	43.8	46.3	49.5
Transport 3		95.9	116.6	20.7	982.3	1191.8	1105.4	1273.8
Travel 4		80.6	100.6	20.0	850.8	987.5	966.0	1048.1
Other services5		172.3	192.1	19.8	1829.1	1921.9	2096.6	2173.0
Primary income - Net		-127.7	-36.3	91.5	-2006.6	-2436.9	-2166.2	-2540.1
Primary income - Credit		71.3	69.1	-2.2	743.2	1085.2	878.2	1164.6
Compensation of employees		49.2	42.8	-6.4	449.4	465.9	495.3	500.3
Investment income		22.1	26.2	4.1	293.9	619.3	382.8	664.3
Other primary income		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Primary income - Debit		199.1	105.4	-93.7	2749.8	3522.2	3044.4	3704.7
Compensation of employees		12.8	7.8	-5.0	138.5	107.3	153.8	120.3
Investment income		186.3	97.5	-88.7	2530.2	3399.8	2809.6	3569.3
Other primary income		0.0	0.0	0.0	81.0	15.1	81.0	15.1
Secondary income - Net		-36.5	32.7	69.1	812.9	735.3	974.3	757.2
Secondary income - Credit		113.9	151.3	37.3	1967.9	2016.1	2218.7	2167.4
General government		78.1	124.7	46.7	1343.4	1658.4	1466.1	1758.9
Other sectors		35.9	26.5	-9.3	624.5	357.7	752.6	408.5
Secondary income - Debit		150.4	118.6	-31.8	1155.0	1280.8	1244.4	1410.2
General government		107.7	72.7	-35.0	685.9	758.8	732.0	838.8
Other sectors		42.7	45.9	3.2	469.1	522.0	512.4	571.3
Capital Account6		63.1	167.4	104.3	860.4	840.7	952.1	926.8
5		20.6	89.5	68.9	132.8	144.5	120.6	154.4
Gross acquisitions/disposals of non-producednon-financial assets - Net
Gross acquisitions/disposals of non-producednon-financial assets - Credit		46.1	89.5	43.5	434.4	763.5	457.9	786.3
Gross acquisitions/disposals of non-producednon-financial assets - Debit		25.4	0.0	-25.4	301.6	618.9	337.2	631.9
Capital transfers - Net		42.5	77.8	35.4	727.6	696.2	831.4	772.4
Capital transfers - Credit		42.5	77.8	35.4	735.3	700.7	839.8	777.4
Capital transfers - Debit		0.0	0.0	0.0	7.7	4.6	8.4	5.0
Financial account - Net1, 6		425.4	-491.4	-916.7	2734.8	2910.9	3011.1	2797.2
Financial account - Assets		321.6	86.4	-235.2	6044.4	7305.5	6160.1	7665.7
Financial account - Liabilities		-103.8	577.8	681.6	3309.7	4394.5	3149.0	4868.5
Direct investment - Net7		-50.6	-146.8	-96.2	-2205.6	-1128.3	-2246.8	-1039.2
Direct investment - Assets8, 9		-1.8	12.4	14.2	322.0	700.4	393.1	645.4
Direct investment - Liabilities9, 10		48.8	159.2	110.4	2527.6	1828.7	2639.9	1684.6

		Monthly figures		Cumulated figures	Twelve-month cumulated figures
			January - November	ending
	Nov 2020	Nov 2021	Change	2020	2021	Nov 2020	Nov 2021
Portfolio investment - Net	354.6	-7.3	-361.9	499.2	1768.5	761.0	2023.3
Portfolio investment - Assets11	155.9	106.5	-49.4	2087.8	1902.3	2347.3	2174.4
Portfolio investment - Liabilities	-198.7	113.7	312.4	1588.5	133.8	1586.3	151.1
Financial derivatives (other than reserves) and employee stock options - Net	2.6	9.8	7.1	-36.6	77.5	-41.6	65.9
Other investment - Net	570.4	-994.2	-1564.6	653.2	1514.4	844.2	-901.0
Other investment - Assets8, 9	616.6	-689.4	-1305.9	-153.3	3946.4	-233.1	2131.7
Other investment - Liabilities9, 10	46.2	304.8	258.7	-806.5	2432.0	-1077.3	3032.7
BNB Reserve assets 12	-451.7	647.1	1098.8	3824.6	678.9	3694.3	2648.2
Monetary gold	0.0	0.0	0.0	16.3	0.2	16.4	0.2
Special drawing rights	-0.1	-0.1	0.0	-0.7	1050.3	-0.2	1050.4
Reserve position in the IMF	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other reserve assets	-451.6	647.2	1098.8	3808.9	-371.7	3678.1	1597.6
Balancing Items:
Current and Capital Account Balance	-207.9	-178.9	29.0	852.8	363.4	585.4	296.0
Financial Account Balance	425.4	-491.4	-916.7	2734.8	2910.9	3011.1	2797.2
Net errors and Omissions13	633.3	-312.5	-945.8	1882.0	2547.6	2425.7	2501.3
Memorandum items 14
Direct investment abroad	14.4	-16.2	-30.5	181.6	148.8	144.4	123.5
Direct investment in Bulgaria	64.9	130.6	65.7	2387.2	1277.1	2391.1	1162.7

• Standard presentation in accordance with IMF 6-th edition of theBalance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual.

Preliminary data as of 18 January 2022. In accordance with the BNB practice and with the ECB data revision requirements (included in thECB Timetable for Exchange of Balance of Payments, International Investment Position and Reserve Assets Statistics within the ESCB ), the data for October 2021 have been revised.

The data for December 2021 and revised data for the period October - November 2021 are to be published on 17 February 2022.

• Preliminary NSI and BNB data for 2021. The data are based on the balance of payments compilation methodology.
  3 Estimates following a methodology of the BNB and the NSI.
  4 Estimates following a methodology of the BNB. NSI data on the number of foreign visitors and residents travelling abroad, and BNB estimates on expenditures (receipts) by purpose of travel.
  For the periods April 2020 - June 2021 and September - November 2021, due to the cancellation of international flights and the restriction of crossing the country's land borders and the worldwide spread of t the NSI has discontinued its statistical surveys at border checkpoints. The BNB applies model to estimate the distribution of residents travelling abroad by country and by purpose of the travel for these periods.
  5 Based on enterprises' direct reporting of transactions with non-residents related to services, remunerations, gratuitous receipts and payments.
  6 A minus sign denotes decrease in assets or liabilities, and a positive sign denotes increase in assets or liabilities.
  7 Preliminary data compiled in accordance with the asset/liability principle. Data are provided by direct investment companies reporting to BNB, banks, the Central Depository, notaries, the NSI, the Public Enterprises and Control Agency. The 2020 and 2021 data are subject to revisions with the annual NSI data and reports from foreign direct investment enterprises.
  8 Data on net change of trade credits-assets (paid advances and receivables from suppliers) reported to the BNB are included in this item. Due to quarterly reporting data are subject to revisions.
  9 On the basis of reports submitted to the BNB by enterprises with loans to/from nonresidents. Due to quarterly reporting data are subject to revisions.
  10 Data on net change of trade credits-liabilities (received advances and payables to suppliers) reported to the BNB are included in this item. Due to quarterly reporting data are subject to revisions. 11 Based on data provided by banks, nonbank financial institutions, insurance companies and pension funds, general government institutions,
  and nonfinancial corporations acquiring securities without intermediation of a resident investment intermediary.
  12 Excluding valuation changes due to exchange rate or price changes, changes associated with the creation of reserve assets (monetisation/demonetisation of gold and allocation or cancellation of SDRs) and reclassifications. Increases in reserves are shown with a positive sign (+), and decreases with a negative sign (-).
  13 Net errors and omissions represent the difference between thefinancial account balance and the current and capital account balance.
  Due to the quarterly and annual reporting periodicity, these data are preliminary and are subject to revisions when complete data are available.
  14 Preliminary data compiled in accordance with the directional principle.