site.btaGovernment Mandated to Negotiate Up to Lv 3 Bln in Foreign Debt with Banks

Government Mandated to Negotiate
Up to Lv 3 Bln in Foreign Debt
with Banks


Sofia, November 19 (BTA) - Parliament mandated the government to
negotiate with banks a new foreign debt which, in 2014, cannot
exceed 3 billion leva or its equivalent in another currency.

The resolution was backed by 117 MPs of GERB, the Reformist
Bloc, the Patriotic Front, the Bulgarian Democratic Centre and
ABV, whereas 27 MPs of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and
Ataka voted against, and 14 MPs of the Movement for Rights and
Freedoms (MRF) abstained.

Parliament rejected Ataka's motion to put off the debate until
Thursday when information on the talks held so far should be
provided at a closed-door sitting.

Menda Stoyanova, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Ad Hoc
Committee on Budget and Finance, said Parliament's resolution
would allow the government to start negotiating with banks
before the adoption of the 2014 budget update, which sets the
amount of the debt. "The government has no time to prepare and
contract the debt by the year's end, let's give it two more
weeks," said Stoyanova. She added that afterwards the Council of
Ministers would ask Parliament to ratify the loan.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said that a bank is bankrupt
and depositors must be given access to their money as quickly as
possible. The Bank Deposit Guarantee Fund can definitely
provide the necessary resources with a state guarantee. "The
State will certainly be financed at a much lower price than the
Fund," said Goranov. Next year the Fund may be given a state
guarantee to repay the loan it will get from the State now.

He added that the guaranteed deposits at Corporate Commercial
Bank (Corpbank), whose licence was revoked, are slightly less
than 3.7 billion leva. Money from the new debt will be issued in
a temporary loan to the Bank Deposit Guarantee Fund, which now
holds about 2.2 billion leva in cash and securities. PK/DD



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