In 2019 Bulgaria’s gross domestic product will grow with 3.7%, up from 3.1% in 2018, the Bulgarian National Bank forecasts in its economic review about the second trimester of 2019. In its economic analysis about the first quarter of 2019 BNB was forecasting that the increase of the country’s GDP will be similar to last year’s growth, but later it revised upwards its forecast due to higher employment, increased wages, low interest rates on bank loans, which will continue to support private consumption. The higher investment activity and government spending will also support local demand, the Bulgarian National Bank further notes, BNR reported.

The assets of investment funds operating in Bulgaria grew by an annual 18.4% to BGN 4.455 billion at the end of June, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said. Compared to the end of March, the assets of investment funds operating in the country were 7.3% higher at the end of June, the central bank added. The assets of resident investment funds increased 17.8% year-on-year to BGN 1.618 billion at the end of June, while the assets of non-resident funds rose to BGN 2.837 billion at the end of June from BGN 2.591 billion a year earlier.

Simex SPLTD, Krivodol, will extract non-metallic minerals - glauconitic raw material, from the Dalboki Dol field, sections Mishovets and Blue Beach, located on the land of Bukovets village, Vratsa district. The concession is granted for a period of 35 years, during which Simex will invest BGN 400 thousand for the extraction. The expected concession payments for the whole period are over BGN 826 thousand. By law, they are received in the state budget and in the budget of the municipality by location of the concession area - in this case Byala Slatina. Glauconite raw material is used in agriculture, energy, petrochemical industry, medicine, cosmetics and others.

Bulgaria's government has extended to 2040 the term of its concession agreement with local bottler Mineral water - KOM for the mineral water deposit near the village of Barzia, in northwestern Bulgaria. The concession agreement was originally signed in 2005. The concession contract was awarded to local bus transport company Etap-Adress in 2005. Etap-Adress set up Mineral water - KOM as a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2013 and transferred the concession rights to it at the time. Earlier this year, another bus company - Transpekt, acquired 100% of Mineral water - KOM, according to data from Bulgaria's commercial register. Transpekt also acquired 100% of local peer Union Ivkoni earlier in 2019.

A new plant for electrical components will be built on the land of Belozem village by Würth Electronics IBE BG. It is a subsidiary of the German concern Würth Elektronik iBE GmbH, which has been operating on the Bulgarian market for 15 years. Its clients are renowned European and global car manufacturers. The investment proposal states that the new plant will be spread over an area of 20,000 square meters. The activity of the company is semi-automated and consists in the production of throttles for the automotive industry.

Burgas-based oil refinery Lukoil Neftochim has concluded a contract for the repair of the Rosenets port terminal, part of the Port of Burgas. The contract is worth BGN 30 million, excluding VAT. The project would be implemented by association "Terminal Rosenetz" DZZD, in which partners are AKZ Burgas SPLTD and GP Group JSC. The first stage of the contract foresees construction works for bringing the piers 1,2 and 3 at the port terminal to the regulatory requirements. The next stage involves the construction of a vapor recovery plant. The contractors will have to build a coastal dam with a road between Pier 1 and Pier 2. The Rosenets port terminal is located on the southern shore of Burgas Bay.

Plovdiv-based electronic medical equipment maker BTL Industry, part of Czech BTL, has recorded a revenue jump of nearly 50% to over BGN 150 million for last year. The company expects to continue growing with this rate - the results for the first annual quarter give good reasons for this. In 2019 sales are projected to reach BGN 215 million, an increase of nearly 50%. The plans of the company, which has been manufacturing in Bulgaria for 13 years, are also entering new fields in medicine production. The BTL Industry team is currently just over 300 people. BTL Industry products are sold in over 100 countries worldwide. Medical devices (cardiology, physiotherapy and urology) are distributed mainly in the European Union as well as in Latin America and Asia, with Poland being the largest single market for these products.

Facebook Inc’s proposed digital currency Libra faces anti-trust probe by European Union regulators. The European Commission is "currently investigating potential anti-competitive behavior" related to Libra amid concerns that the proposed payment system would unfairly shut out rivals, said the report. Libra is a global crypto-currency by Facebook, set to launch in 2020. EU officials said they were concerned how about Libra may create “possible competition restrictions” on the information that will be exchanged and the use of consumer data, according to Bloomberg. The EU regulators are also examining the possible integration of Libra-backed applications into Facebook services such as WhatsApp and Messenger. Last month, U.S. lawmakers pointed out that Facebook had not shown it could be trusted to safeguard the world financial system and consumers’ data. Facebook as well as a spokeswoman for the European Commission said they had no comment. The company’s shares moved slightly lower on the news, but pared losses later in the day.

President Donald Trump has confirmed he is considering a new, temporary payroll tax cut to help boost the US economy. White House officials had earlier dismissed reports that the administration was discussing the move. But speaking to reporters, the president said a "payroll tax is something that we think about, and a lot of people would like to see that". US workers pay payroll taxes on their earnings to finance health insurance, social security, and pensions. Mr Trump has been talking up the US economy in recent days amid growing unease about a potential recession. "We're very far from a recession," he told the reporters. A strong economy is seen as key to his re-election prospects in 2020, but continuing trade tensions with China have sparked concerns about an imminent slowdown. Tax cuts when the president took office helped boost the economy and sparked a surge in share prices on Wall Street. But many economists think the impact of those cuts is starting to wane.

China’s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has delayed its up to $15 billion listing in Hong Kong amid growing political unrest in the Asian financial hub, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listing plans are being closely watched by the financial community for indications on the business environment in the Chinese-controlled territory and provides a window into Beijing’s reading of the situation. While no new timetable has been formally set, Alibaba could potentially launch the deal as early as October, still seeking to raise $10 billion-$15 billion, depending on whether political tensions had eased and market conditions became more favorable, one of the people said. The decision to postpone the deal, initially set to launch in late August, was taken at a board meeting before Alibaba’s earnings release last week, the second person said. The delay was due to the lack of financial and political stability in Hong Kong, the people added, following more than 11 weeks of frequently violent pro-democracy demonstrations which have plunged the city into turmoil.