Bi-Weekly Report 2 – 15 June 2020

A looser fiscal stance helped moderate the impact of COVID- 19 on Q1:20 GDP growth (up 2.4% y-o-y)

However, there is limited fiscal space to offset increasing recessionary pressures in the coming quarters

GDP growth slowed to 1.2% y-o-y in Q1:20, as COVID-19 took its toll

Bulgaria braces for a deeper downturn in Q2:20, due to declining private consumption, especially of services, and investment, and a slow recovery thereafter

Banking system profitability improved in FY:19, in line with lower provisioning

COVID-19 should put banks’ profitability under pressure in FY:20