The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed Bulgaria’s foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) at 'BBB' with a positive outlook, the Ministry of Finance press centre has announced.
It has a positive outlook and reflects the country’s plans of membership of the Eurozone. According to Fitch Ratings, short-term downside risks tied to the coronavirus pandemic have eased and are more than offset by prospects of substantial EU funding for investment and a broad commitment to macro and fiscal stability (anchored by the inclusion since July 2020 of the Bulgarian lev into Exchange Rate Mechanism II; ERMII). Fitch forecasts average inflation will rise to 5.2% in 2022, the highest rate since 2008. After a better-than expected outturn with a government deficit of 3.8% in 2021 due to strong revenue growth, we expect the general government deficit to fall to 3% in 2023 from 4.6% this year, Fitch writes. This would be consistent with the public debt/GDP ratio increasing to 30% in 2023, from 20% in 2019 and still well below the current 'BBB' median of 60.3%.
According to Fitch Ratings, Bulgaria's banking sector maintained adequate liquidity through 2021 and capitalisation remained solid. The agency warns that a delay in the timeline of Eurozone accession, a prolonged rise in public debt, or weaker growth prospects could lead to to negative rating action/downgrade.
The caretaker government has instructed Deputy PM and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova to submit, by 11 September, a proposal for amending the REpowerEU chapters of the recovery and resilience plan. This is being done so as to make the..
Andrey Gyurov will cease to perform his duties as Deputy Governor in charge of the Issue Department and Member of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) until the court and parliament make a decision, the BNB announced. The..
The direct losses for Bulgaria from the delayed full accession to the Schengen Area amount to EUR 424 million, caretaker Minister of Economy Petko Nikolov said . He quoted a report by the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of..
Moody's expects Bulgaria to join the Eurozone no later than the beginning of 2026. According to the rating agency, the growth of the Bulgarian economy in..
+359 2 9336 661