About 32.2 per cent of non-financial businesses in Bulgaria said that their revenue in September was lower than in August, according to the latest of a special series of polls being done by the National Statistical Institute in connection with the impact of Covid-19.

Just less than half of the 3770 businesses polled said that their revenue in September was unchanged compared with August, while 17.8 per cent said that it had gone up.

About 37.1 per cent of construction firms polled reported lower revenue in September, while 35.4 per cent in the arts, entertainment and recreation category reported lower revenue.

In the wholesale and retail trade category, 30.9 per cent of businesses said that their revenue in September was down compared with August.

About 17.1 per cent of the businesses said that they had sent employees on paid leave, 10 per cent said that they sent staff on unpaid leave, 9.1 per cent had laid off staff and 8.3 per cent said that they were relying on government subsidies.

More than 95 per cent said that they expected to stay in business, just less than two per cent said that they expected to have to suspend operations temporarily, while 2.2 per cent said they expected that they would have to close down.