SOFIA, Feb 5: Bulgaria’s economy expanded by 4.9 per cent in 2001 — once again the highest growth in eastern Europe — exceeding the government’s target of 4.5 per cent, Economy Minister Nikolai Vassilev said on Tuesday.

“Our economic growth is the highest in central and eastern Europe for a second year in a row. It was 5.8 per cent in 2000, and last year regarding the difficult economic situation globally it reached 4.9 per cent which is pretty good,” he said.

He did not give GDP figures for October-December last year. The National Statistics Institute is expected to issue preliminary 2001 GDP data in late March.

The cabinet signed a $300 million, two-year deal with the IMF in December and in return pledged to speed up economic reforms and tighten budget discipline in one of the poorest European Union aspirant states.—Reuters