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Tony Thompson: World Bank appreciates progress of BNB

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The World Bank appreciates the progress of the Bulgarian National Bank, the representative of that international institution in Bulgaria Tony Thompson told the Bulgarian National Radio. In the past two years the Bulgarian authorities undertook serious measures aimed at finding the problems in the country’s financial sector. The World Bank does not expect that the changes would happen in one day only, because we are talking about a whole range of reforms. The financing provided by the World Bank to the Deposit Insurance Fund can be viewed as a confidence vote towards Bulgaria’s financial sector and the cabinet, Tony Thompson further pointed out. The World Bank decided to extend two loans to Bulgaria. The first loan will be directed to the Deposit Insurance Fund and the other one will finance the Energy Efficiency Programme. The loan provided to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be covered with a state guarantee to the tune of EUR 300 million. On Friday the National Assembly voted in favor of that move. However, Bulgaria continues to experience difficulties in the healthcare system, the regulatory framework and the judicial field, Tony Thompson pointed out. Bulgaria should make efforts to boost the qualification of its citizens. Thus, labor productivity would grow and the number of people benefitting from the public welfare will be higher. The World Bank believes that Bulgaria’s economy can grow with higher rates, if that country makes improvements in the judicial sphere, the administrative environment and the work of some key regulatory bodies in the power engineering and financial field. Bulgaria should also optimize the expenses in its healthcare system, Mr Tony Thompson further said.




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