Economy and Energy Minister Peter Dimitrov opened a conference entitled: "The World Financial and Economic Crisis and the Stability of the Bulgarian Economy," organized by the Institute of Economics and International Relations and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

Crises place business at new technological levels, and this is the time for the Bulgarian economy to invigorate its scientific activity, Dimitrov said.

He said Bulgaria's position is to preserve the currency board arrangement in the country until its accession to the Eurozone. Dimitrov noted that Bulgaria's only "sin" due to which the country does not meet the Maastricht criteria is inflation, but he expressed hope that inflation will decrease due to the crisis.

It is now very difficult to find a country in the Eurozone which does not violate the criteria for entry into that zone. It turns out that those who are inside the zone can violate the criteria, and those outside the zone should stand in front of the door and wait, which is not a good position, Dimitrov said. He noted that Bulgaria expects solidarity from Europe.

According to the Minister, the anticyclical policy of the central bank should continue. He recalled that the minimum compulsory reserves of commercial banks were reduced from 12 to 10 per cent. Dimitrov said the possibility to guarantee interbank deposits is being examined, because this will give additional security to the banking system.

The government is increasing investment expenses in order to respond to the shrinking of the market and the reduction of private demand, the Minister said. He added that, if necessary, the budget surplus will be reduced by 1 per cent.

The government took measures to provide a credit resource of 500 million leva for small and medium-sized enterprises through the Bulgarian Development Bank. The insurance capacity of the Insurance Agency was increased, so that it reached the maximum of 1,000 million leva, Dimitrov added.

"We have reached all necessary agreements with the European Investment Fund for the transfer of 200 million euro under the Competitiveness Programme to Bulgarian commercial banks, and we are waiting for the Fund to sign the documents so that this money will be directed to commercial banks through the Bulgarian Development Bank," Dimitrov said. He said that negotiations are under way with the European Commission to extend 209 million euro for energy efficiency measures. The money will be managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development under the scheme of the International Kozloduy Fund.

A total of 45 million euro for 2010 has been transferred ahead of schedule under the Competitiveness Programme for 2009, the Minister said.

He said that in the next few days he will meet with representatives of the General Electric company of the US, which intends to invest some 800 million euro in Bulgaria.

The Government has decided to allocate 100 million leva for the building of some 20 industrial parks in Bulgaria, Dimitrov said. The natural gas storage facility at Galata may go into operation as early as in the summer, because there is serious investor interest from the Melrose Resources company, he said.

Source: BTA