Bulgaria’s unemployment fell to 4.6% in March 2019. This is the lowest unemployment rate since 2000, when Eurostat started publishing data about Bulgaria. In February this year unemployment was at 4.7%. One year earlier 5.3% of the Bulgarians in active age were unemployed. In March 2019 the EU unemployment fell to 6.4% and unemployment in the Eurozone fell to 7.7%. The record-low unemployment levels in the whole EU mean that the risk of economic recession is low. Theoretically, the very low unemployment levels in Bulgaria should boost consumer spending and respectively the national economy, which in 2018 suffered from the weakening exports.

The banking system reported a profit of BGN 1.7 billion at the end of 2018. ROA and ROE rose from 2017 to 1.5% and 11.97% respectively. The liquidity position of the banking sector remained stable, with the liquidity ratio in the banking system substantially exceeding the minimum required level. This is clear from the annual report of the BNB. According to it, the assets of banks increased by BGN 7.8 billion (8%) in 2018, reaching BGN 105.6 billion. The central bank also points out that the share of gross non-performing loans and advances in the aggregate gross amount of loans and advances decreased to 7.6% (from 10.2% at the end of December 2017), while the coverage rate of gross non-performing loans and advances with the inherent impairment increased and at the end of the period amounted to 51.4% (49.4% at the end of 2017). Credit institutions have complied with capital buffer requirements. At the end of 2018, the regulatory capital amounted to BGN 11.6 billion, an increase of BGN 142 million (1.2%) compared to the end of 2017.

Australian copper-gold exploration company Raiden Resources has signed an earn-in and option to purchase agreement over the Vuzel project in southern Bulgaria with local geological consultancy Ridge Consulting. "The signing of the earn-in and option to purchase agreement over the Vuzel project is a significant milestone for the company and represents the first step on executing our strategy of securing additional highly prospective projects in the prolific Western Tethyan belt," Dusko Ljubojevic, managing director of Raiden, said. "We are highly encouraged by the geological setting within the project and believe that the Vuzel project has the potential to host significant gold mineralisation, such as at the Ada Tepe mine, which is located within 30km of the Vuzel permit in Bulgaria," Ljubojevic added. The Ada Tepe deposit holds the Krumovgrad gold mine, operated by Dundee Precious Metals. Under the terms of the agreement, Raiden can earn an interest of up to 90% in the project in three stages.

BEH and Gazprom are in the final stage of agreeing an agreement on the South Stream project. This also includes the settlement of the contract for a loan from 2014, during which BEH has absorbed EUR 97.7 million. On April 30, a publication by the Russian Interfax agency said BEH owed nearly EUR 100 million to Gazprom, despite the assurances of politicians that Moscow does not have claims to Sofia in connection with the completion of the South Stream project. Gazprom EP International BV has provided BEH with a long-term credit line for EUR 97.7 million. In December 2014, Gazprom stopped work on the South Stream project. In accordance with the loan agreement, the company did not seek interest from it. It expected to receive the amount of the principal debt on the loan, the media wrote. It also reports that at the end of 2018, Gazprom EP International BV, with the support of Gazprom, has agreed conditions for an agreement to repay the loan. BEH confirms the loan and says that EUR 97.7 million has been invested in the capital increase from 2014 of the project company South Stream Bulgaria. "With the reduction of the capital of the project company and liquidation, which are specified in the agreement, the BEH quota will be sufficient to serve for the return of the loan to Gazprom EP International BV", the holding company said.

The state budget will finance the construction of the extension of Tsaritsa Yoanna Boulevard from the Lyulin residential complex to the industrial zone in Bozhurishte. The necessary amount is about BGN 19.7 million, but the new road link is part of the infrastructure projects promised to Volkswagen's emissaries, who were looking at the area for the eventual factory in Bulgaria. The construction of the new highway will be provided to Sofia Municipality this year, and the money will have to be secured from the 2019 budget. The existing train station and possibly the subway will be used separately if the number of employees reaches 20,000 in the area. the connection of the underground railway with Bozhurishte railway line takes place at Obelya metro station, the workers in the area also use a route from and to Sofia. Following the example of Plovdiv, an intermodal terminal is still planned to be built in the industrial zone near Sofia. Unofficially the possible sites for the new Škoda-brand plant are around Sofia or Plovdiv. The consultants on the deal were astonished at their proposed locations because such terrains to such big cities were not offered to them anywhere else. The emissaries who were in Bulgaria did not analyze the terrain but stayed in the two cities for a few days to feel the way of life.

Telecommunications company A1 Bulgaria increased its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 17.7% year-year to EUR 42.8 million in the first quarter, its parent company A1 Telekom Austria Group said. A1 Bulgaria's revenue rose 3.9% to EUR 111.1 million, A1 Telekom Austria said in a quarterly financial statement. The rise was mainly due to higher service revenues, which increased to EUR 89.5 million from EUR 84 million in the first quarter of last year. Capital expenditure decreased by 8.5% to EUR 10.1 million. The number of A1 Bulgaria's wireless subscribers decreased by an annual 3.1% to 3.8 million in the first quarter, while the average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 7.0%. A1 Bulgaria competes with the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), which operates under the brand name Vivacom, Telenor Bulgaria - a unit of Czech Republic-based investment group PPF, and until recently Max Telecom.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said investors were underestimating how much the central bank could raise interest rates even as it kept borrowing costs on hold on Thursday due to Brexit uncertainty. The BoE said there was little immediate risk from waiting for a clearer view of what Britain’s departure from the European Union would mean for the economy and its nine rate-setters all voted to keep its benchmark rate at 0.75 percent. But Carney made clear his view that investors were too relaxed about the pace at which the BoE could resume its gradual rate increases to ease Britain off the stimulus of low borrowing costs that has been in place for more than a decade. “There are insufficient hikes in the current market curve to be consistent with our remit,” he told reporters. The BoE’s position that higher borrowing costs will be needed in future represents a more hawkish stance than either the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank. The BoE upgraded its forecast for growth in the world’s fifth-largest economy to 1.5 percent, up from the decade-low 1.2 percent it predicted in February, largely reflecting better global economic prospects.

The Federal Reserve left its key benchmark rate unchanged despite renewed calls by President Donald Trump to cut interest rates. Policymakers led by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell unanimously agreed to leave rates alone, sticking with the wait-and-see approach outlined earlier this year amid uncertainty about where the US economy is headed. "We don't see a strong case for moving in either direction," said Powell at a press conference following the Fed's two-day meeting in Washington." The committee is comfortable with our current policy stance." Fears of a slowdown have subsided in the wake of positive news from China, and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing appear to be easing as negotiators work toward a deal. Powell said global cross-currents apparent at the start of the year have "moderated somewhat," including the extension of Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Central bankers agreed at their regular policy-setting meeting in Washington to keep the federal funds rate between 2.25% and 2.5%. That rate influences the cost of mortgages, credit cards and other borrowing.

India's fast-growing hotel chain Oyo will expand in Europe with the purchase of an Amsterdam-based vacation rental firm. Oyo will reportedly pay EUR 369.5m for @Leisure. The Indian firm has grown rapidly since its launch in 2013 and claims it is the world's sixth largest hotel chain. Founded by Ritesh Agarwal, now 25, Oyo has received funding from Japanese conglomerate Softbank as well as Airbnb. Last month the firm secured a "strategic investment" from Airbnb, reportedly valued at $100m. Oyo operates budget hotels as well as rental homes across countries including China, US and UK, as well as India. The company hopes to expand its reach in the European holiday market with its acquisition of @Leisure - which manages homes, parks and apartments - from German media firm Axel Springer. Oyo Global Chief Strategy Officer Maninder Gulati said the European market is "spearheading the vacation and urban home rental trend globally". More than 2.8 million holiday-makers from 118 countries already book their holiday every year with @Leisure Group, he said.