SOFIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of 2017 dropped year-on-year by 323.2 million euros (some 359.3 million U.S. dollars), preliminary data showed on Thursday.
From January to March 2017, FDI in Bulgaria presented according to the directional principle was negative amounting to 106 million euros, while in the same period of 2016, the figure was positive and amounted to 217.2 million euros, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said.
The largest net direct investment inflow in the country during the three-month period came from Norway, 17.8 million euros, followed by Malta (15 million euros), while the largest FDI outflow went to Belgium (75.6 million euros) and Austria (55.5 million euros), the BNB said.
Meanwhile, real estate investments of non-residents totaled 1.3 million euros, while in January-March 2016 the figure stood at 8.8 million euros, data showed.
In 2016, FDI in Bulgaria amounted to 682.8 million euros, or 59.7 percent less year-on-year. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollars)
