Balgarianovinite.com Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) expects Bulgaria’s real gross domestic product (GDP) to continue growing steadily on an annual basis in the first half of 2026, at rates close to those recorded in the first half of 2025. The projection is included in the summary of the central bank’s quarterly publication Economic Review, published on its website on Wednesday.
The BNB forecasts a slowdown in domestic demand growth, but economic activity will continue to be supported by all of its components – primarily private consumption, followed by investment in fixed capital and government consumption.
The central bank also expects exports of goods and services to recover in the first half of the year as the factors that constrained them in 2025 are gradually exhausted. Nevertheless, given the slowdown in external demand for Bulgarian goods and services in the first and second quarters of 2026 and the anticipated increase in imports, the BNB expects the contribution of net exports to economic activity to remain negative.
Regarding inflation, the BNB notes that regular business surveys conducted by the National Statistical Institute indicate that in December 2025 the share of managers in the services and industrial sectors who expect selling prices to rise over the next three months increased compared with both the previous month and December 2024.
This may signal an acceleration of inflation in the core components of the consumer basket in the short term and corresponds to the observed strengthening price pressures along the supply chain, the publication says.
In view of current trends, the technical assumptions regarding international commodity price dynamics, and the projected developments in the labour market and domestic economic activity, the central bank expects inflation to ease slightly in the first half of 2026.
In its latest macroeconomic forecast, the BNB projects that inflation, measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, will reach 3.6% at the end of 2026. Bulgarian National Bank Forecasts Steady Economic Growth in First Half of 2026 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-18 17:50:25 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law