The Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria amounted to EUR 2,078.6 million (6.3% of GDP) in the first half of 2008, compared to EUR 2,537.1 million (8.8% of GDP) attracted in the year-ago period, preliminary data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) show.

The attracted Equity Capital (acquisition/disposal of shares and equities in cash and contributions in kind by non-residents in/from the capital and reserves of Bulgarian enterprises and receipts/payments from/for real estate deals in the country) for January – June 2008 amounted to EUR 1,686.2 million, which was 81.1% of the foreign direct investment. It increased by EUR 238.6 million compared to that attracted in the same period of 2007 (EUR1447.6 million).

The receipts from real estate investments of non-residents amounted to EUR 727.1 million compared to EUR 877 million for January – June 2007.

The attracted equity capital on privatisation deals with non-residents (that have acquired over 10% of the equity in a Bulgarian enterprise) reported in January – June 2008 did not increase, compared to an increase of EUR 1.4 million in January – June 2007. The attracted equity capital on non-privatisation deals totalled EUR 1,686.2 million in the reporting period, compared to EUR 1446.2 million for the same period in 2007.

The other capital, net (the change in the net liabilities of the direct investment enterprise to the direct investor on financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities) was positive, amounting to EUR 157.7 million in January – June 2008, compared to a net other capital amounting to EUR 923.9 million in the same period of 2007.

The Reinvested Earnings (the share of non-residents in the undistributed earnings/ loss of the enterprise) in January – June 2008 are estimated at EUR 234.7 million compared to EUR 165.7 million in the same period of the previous year, preliminary data show.

By country, the largest investments in Bulgaria for the reporting period were those of Austria (17.8% of the total foreign direct investment), Germany (13.6%) and Greece (11.8%).

By branch, the largest investments for January – June 2008 were in Real estate, renting and business activities (EUR 600 million), Financial intermediation (EUR 468 million) and Manufacturing (EUR 427.8 million).

Direct investment abroad increased by EUR 430.4 million in the period January – June 2008, compared to an increase of EUR 84.9 million in January – June 2007, preliminary data show. The equity capital invested abroad in 2008 amounted to EUR 425.8 million, compared to EUR 103.4 million in January – June 2007.