Bulgaria's economic growth is expected to reach 3.2% in 2018, the unemployment rate to drop to nearly 5%, and the current account to register yet another significant surplus. The prospects for 2019 are similar, according to findings by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Bulgaria. According to the IMF report, Bulgaria's economic results continue to be stable. The IMF report also notes the progress achieved as part of the reforms under the European Commission's Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, including through the establishment of a single counter-corruption commission and strengthening the independence of judges and prosecutors.

VAT collected last year exceeds BGN 10 billion, according to data of the Finance Ministry. Revenues are nearly BGN 40 billion, which is an increase of over 12% year-on-year and is mostly because of households' higher incomes and purchases. On the other hand, the Government's expenditures grow even faster, by 14.4% compared to 2017, mostly because of the unplanned expenditures at the end of 2018 but also because of the higher than expected expenditures for subsidies and personnel. The Government's consolidated fiscal programme finishes the year with a cash surplus of BGN 137 million, or 0.1% of the GDP forecast for the period. It is smaller than the initially expected BGN 590 million, which the Finance Ministry indicated in its three-year budget forecast last autumn, but the data look like a considerable improvement given the deficit of BGN 1.1 billion planned at the time of the 2018 national budget's adoption.

Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry has postponed the deadline for bids in the tender for the 35-year concession on Sofia Airport for a fourth time, to April 3 2019. The previous deadline was February 5, but the Transport Ministry initially sought to receive binding bids by October 22 2018, which was pushed back to November 22 and, later, to January 29 2019. Previously, the ministry gave no reasons for its decisions to postpone the deadline, but this time it said that the delay had been requested by interested bidders. Called in July 2018, this is Bulgaria’s second attempt to pick a concessionaire for the country’s largest air hub. The first process, launched in 2016 by the previous government of Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, also saw several delays before it was scrapped by a caretaker government in March 2017. The arguments for calling the tender off closely mirrored those put forward by the opposition socialists, who claimed that it was against the state’s interests to offer the airport on concession. The Cabinet wants to use the large up-front concession fee from Sofia Airport – at least EUR 550 million– on the country’s ailing state railway BDZ, settling its outstanding debts and to purchase new rolling stock.

The US company AtScale, which announced that it plans to start its European expansion from Bulgaria earlier this year and that it has invested USD 50 million in the latest round of Morgan Stanley's funding negotiations, will invest between USD 20 and 25 million in its new office in Bulgaria. This was reported by Matthew Bird, founder of UpScale, and Scott Hauser, product manager at AtScale. They stated that the ambition of the company is to reach 40-50 employees in the next year. "I think this is a good start to date. It's aggressive, but I think it's achievable," said Matthew Bird. "In the next 24 months, we are planning to invest between USD 20 and 25 million here, on the local market, to expand the office, to employ about 50 people, and if we think more aggressively, another 100 people. So we will continue to invest and build a stronger presence from what we have today," explained Scott Hauser.

Bulgarian state-owned gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz has signed a BGN 21.9 million contract with a tie-up led by Russia's Zapadgazenergoinvest for construction of a main gas pipeline between valve station Batultsi and VS Kalugerovo, in the country's northwest. The deal was signed on December 31, the gas transmission system operator said in a notice to the public procurement agency. According to data from the Bulgarian registry agency, Zapadgazenergoinvest holds a 50% stake in the consortium, while Bulgarian companies Europroject Building and Climatronic own 25% each. Two candidates submitted offers in the public procurement tender for the contract - Zapadgazenergoinvest and GBS Sever, a consortium comprising local companies Glavbolgarstroy and Glavbolgarstroy International. In September 2018, Bulgartransgaz ranked the Zapadgazenergoinvest-led tie-up's offer first. Subsequently, GBS Sever filed a complaint against the ranking which was dismissed by the Commission for Protection of Competition.

Bulgarian aluminium products manufacturer Alcomet said that its individual net profit fell 11.1% to BGN 13.7 million in 2018, despite a rise in revenue. The company's expenses for materials grew 4.5% to BGN 301.2 million last year, bringing the company's total expenses 2.3% higher at BGN 352.8 million, Alcomet said in an annual financial statement earlier this week. Alcomet pocketed revenue of BGN 368 million in 2018, up by an annual 1.7%. In terms of volume, Alcomet's sales dropped 2.5% to 66,359 metric tons. The company sold 44,203 metric tons of rolled products, 4% less than the year before, and 22,118 metric tons of extruded products, up 0.4% on the year. The company's biggest market last year was Germany, with a 25.3% share of all sales, followed by Italy and Poland with 14.3% and 12.7%, respectively. Alcomet's output increased 1.8% to 68,322 metric tons last year. Rolled products output rose 2.8% to 46,108 metric tons, while production of extruded products edged down 0.2% to 22,214 metric tons. Alcomet produces household, technical and container foils, finstock, sheets and strips, as well as standard and customized profiles. The company exports over 90% of its output.

Bulgarian construction company Trace Group Hold completed the construction of a BGN 4.3 million overpass in the city of Stara Zagora. Trace Group Hold managed to complete the project before the February 26 deadline. The company started works on the overpass in June 2018. Trace Group Hold's activities include rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction of roads, highways, airports, underground stations and underground railways, ground railroads and facilities, urban infrastructure and road marking.

Nearly one in three British businesses are planning to relocate some of their operations abroad or have already shifted them to cope with a hard Brexit, according to a leading lobby group. The Institute of Directors (IoD) warned that 29% of firms in a survey of 1,200 members believed Brexit posed a significant risk to their operations in the UK and had either moved part of their businesses abroad already or were planning to do so. More than one in 10 had already set up operations outside the UK as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit becomes more likely amid Westminster gridlock. Most firms considering a move were looking to open offices inside the European Union, said the IoD, which represents 30,000 firms. Edwin Morgan, the IoD’s interim director general, said: “We can no more ignore the real consequences of delay and confusion than business leaders can ignore the hard choices that they face in protecting their companies. Large companies such as Sony and Panasonic have relocated their European headquarters from the UK to the continent, but the IoD said smaller companies were also enacting plans. Morgan said a surge of smaller firms had activated their plans in the last week.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido reiterated a call for the military to defect from the country's socialist government, as President Nicolas Maduro appeared to intensify a deepening political standoff by proposing to hold early National Assembly elections that could potentially oust his challenger. Speaking from behind a podium decorated with Venezuela's presidential seal, Guaido vowed to thousands of roaring supporters that he would keep his opposition movement in the streets until Maduro stopped "usurping" the country's presidency and agreed to organize new presidential elections overseen by international observers. The 35-year-old president of Venezuela's National Assembly outlined the opposition's recent moves and called on "blocks" of the military to defect from Maduro's administration and "get on the side of the Venezuelan people." He also said that in the following days, the opposition movement would try to move humanitarian aid into the country by land and sea along three border points, including the Colombian city of Cucuta.

Singapore was China's largest foreign investor in 2018 — and it was for the sixth consecutive year, according to the city state's trade ministry. One major investment boost came from the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, a sprawling project that will convert farmlands into a sustainable urban development expected to eventually be home to half a million people. The project is a 50-50 joint venture between Singapore-government backed, Ascendas-Singbridge and China's Guangzhou Development District Administrative Committee. The site began construction about five years ago and is now has a number of half-built high-rise buildings against a silhouette of cranes. It's located some 45 minutes by car from the Guangzhou, the third largest city in China, which recently connected its massive rail network to Knowledge City's new trains. The first phase of the knowledge city has just been launched. It was built for about 80,000 people living and working across slightly more than two square miles, and in this phase alone, there will be18 schools. When completed, Knowledge City could eventually cover an area that's nearly 50 square miles — almost the size of Pittsburgh city in Pennsylvania.