C HAPTER 1 Bulgaria’s Economic Development 9 1 Bulgaria’s Economic Development Prof. Gancho Ganchev, PhD 1.1. The Global Financial and Economic Crisis and Bulgaria During the period preceding the global financial shake-up, Bulgaria had enjoyed relatively high growth(see Graph 1), reduced unemployment, and experienced an intensive influx of foreign capital. The downside entailed increasing current account deficits and an excessively fast credit expansion. Graph 1 GDP, quarterly growth rates, seasonally adjusted data GDP, quarterly growth rates, seasonally adjusted data Source: National Statistical Institute