Bulgaria‘s banking industry is stable even though it ranks third in the European Union in terms of bad loans, IMF data shows. Bad loans in Bulgaria spiked up to 14.9% at the end of 2011 from a year ago, totaling BGN 8.365 B, according to the Washington-based lender, which confirms data by the central bank in Sofia released earlier this month. This puts [...]
Greek tourism revenues could mark a 5% decrease in 2012 due to a fall in pre-bookings from Germany, industry officials have said. Greece expects tourist numbers to fall 3 % from 16.4 million last year, prompting a 5% fall in revenues, in the wake of the country’s negative publicity in its top tourists markets and [...]
Remittances – money sent by Bulgarian migrants to family members back home – continue to increase slightly, but steadily despite the global downturn, data from the central bank shows. The net sum of the remittances from Bulgarians permanently working abroad totaled EUR 773.9 M during last year. Bulgarian immigrants sent home EUR 59.8 M in [...]
Bulgaria still wants to join the eurozone provided the bloc’s members obey its rules on limiting debt, Traicho Traikov, Bulgaria‘s Economy Minister, said in an interview for German media. “Provided all other eurozone states stick to the debt rules in future…entry to the currency union remains a medium-term goal for us,” Minister Traikov told German [...]
Spain, Greece, the UK and Cyprus are the EU countries with the largest numbers of residing Bulgarian workers, according to Bulgarian media. A total of 172 634 Bulgarians currently live in Spain, according to official data cited by the Bulgarian Monitor daily. The paper has pointed out that Bulgarians are expected to turn to the German [...]
Bulgaria, the poorest EU member state, is said to feel cheated as the EU institutions are about to seal a new policy allowing six other member states, which are struggling financially, to be able to co-fund projects with much less money. “Countries which maintain a strict financial discipline should not be punished and those that [...]
Very bad things happened in the last few months in Europe, which imposed changes in Bulgaria’s fiscal policy, says Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov. Speaking in an interview for the TV channel bTV Tuesday morning, Djankov responded to criticism that he had made promises for more funding to different sectors earlier and [...]
Following European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet has voiced sharp criticism of financial rating agencies. Thursday Trichet spoke about the existence of a “structure of international credit agencies similar to an oligopoly,” describing it as “highly undesirable.” What provoked the unusually sharp criticism was the Tuesday downgrading of Portugal‘s [...]
The bids, which were submitted for a section of the future Struma Highway, connecting Sofia to the border with Greece, will be opened on Thursday, the road infrastructure agency announced. A record number of bidders – 19 – applied with offers to build Lot 1 of the Struma Highway – including companies from Bulgaria, Italy, [...]
Bulgaria is the second best-value destination for British tourists for Easter 2011, according to a survey of Post Office Travel Money. Spain offered best value-for-money for 10 typical holiday items in a table of 14 popular tourist destinations compiled by Post Office Travel Money as cited by the Press Association. The survey found the 10 [...]
Bulgaria’s Yuri Sterk Appointed EU Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Bulgaria Wins Concession as EU Agrees on Bank Capital Rules
Bulgaria Flooded Village Still Waiting for Rulers’ Generous Donation
Bulgarian Volleyball Star May Skip Olympic Games over Scandal
Famous Rose Harvest Festival Begins in Bulgaria
Bulgaria to Launch National Unit to Compensate Victims of Slow Justice
Bulgaria PM Makes U-Turn: Bonuses to Go to Sick Kids
