Imports expand Bulgaria Jan-May current account gap

The centre-right government however expects the shortfall, once Bulgaria's key economic vulnerability, to swing back to a surplus of about 1.5% for the whole year, due to still weak domestic demand and an expected recovery in exports as the euro zone recovers slowly in the second half of the year.

The current account registered a deficit of 671.6 million euros ($822 million), compared with a deficit of 99.9 million euros a year ago or 0.3% of GDP, data showed.

For May alone, the current account deficit stood at 64.2 million euros, compared to a surplus of 104.2 million a year ago.

Strong exports pushed Bulgaria's current account balance into the black last year, but the mild recession in the euro-zone, Bulgaria's key trading partner, has slowed their growth in the first five months of 2012.

Exports grew by just 0.9% in the first five months of the year to 8.1 billion euros, while imports rose by 12.1% to 8.7 billion euros.

The Balkan country is struggling to attract foreign investment and get its economy, whose growth the government expects to slow to 1.4% this year from 1.7% in 2011, back on track.

Foreign direct investment increased more than six-fold to 474 million euros in the first five months of the year on an annual basis, but was still below the volumes Sofia saw in the years prior to the economic downturn in 2009.