SOFIA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of 2019 dropped year-on-year by 201.8 million euros (some 225.45 million U.S. dollars), preliminary data showed on Monday.

From January to March 2019, FDI in Bulgaria presented according to the directional principle recorded a negative value of 254.4 million euros, while in the same period of 2018, the figure was also negative but amounted to 52.6 million euros, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said.

According to the statistics, the largest net direct investment inflows in the country during the three-month period came from the Netherlands, 174.3 million euros, followed by Ireland (70 million euros) and Britain (52.2 million), while the outflows went to "other", unnamed countries.

In 2018, FDI in Bulgaria amounted to 1.533 billion euros, a 10.3 percent growth year-on-year. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)