Bulgaria: current account deficit at $6.49 billion

The figure was up from euro3.36 billion ($4.57 billion) for the same period in 2007.

The current account gap widened to 14 percent of gross domestic product--2.4 percentage points higher than the deficit in the same period of 2007.

The main reason for the increase was the growing foreign trade deficit, which reached euro5.75 billion ($7.82 billion), or 16.9 percent of GDP during January-August, compared with euro4.37 billion ($5.94 billion), or 15.1 percent of GDP during the same period last year.

Direct foreign investment in the first eight months amounted to euro2.98 billion ($4.05 billion), or 8.8 percent of GDP, down from euro4.15 billion ($5.64 billion), or 14.4 percent of GDP, in the same period last year.

Direct investment covered just 62.5 percent of the current account deficit against 123.7 percent for January-August 2007.

EU newcomer Bulgaria has one of the highest current account deficits in the bloc which, along with double-digit inflation and the beginning decline of foreign investments due to the financial meltdown, is expected to slow down economic growth.

The government has already raised its end-year budget surplus target to 3.5 percent of GDP from the initially planned 3.0 percent to counter possible effects of the global crisis.