SOFIA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's gross external debt at end-December 2017 amounted to 32.56 billion euros (40.05 billion U.S. dollars), or 63.9 percent of country's gross domestic product, decreasing by 4.4 percent year-on-year, authorities said Wednesday.

Long-term liabilities totalled 25.03 billion euros, dropping by 5.9 percent from end-2016, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said on its website.

Short-term liabilities equalled 7.53 billion euros, increasing by 1.4 percent year-on-year, the BNB said.

Meanwhile, general government's gross external debt totalled 5.69 billion euros, 16.1 percent less than that at the end of 2016, the BNB said.

Banks' external debt totalled nearly 4.30 billion euros, growing by 3.3 percent on an annual basis, while other sectors' external debt equalled 10.49 billion euros, dropping by 2.2 percent, it added. (1 euro = 1.23 U.S. dollars)