Bulgaria is to pay ahead of schedule some of its debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski presented a report containing a strategy for early payment of the national debt. The issue of debt payment was considered during the regular IMF mission to Bulgaria in October. The Cabinet then accepted this commitment.
For the first nine months of 2005, Bulgaria’s debt was 5.4 billion euro. Funds for early payment will be taken from the fiscal reserve, which for the same period reached 2.4 billion euro. After the advance payment, foreign debt is expected to decrease to 5.2 billion euro. Bulgaria has to return 778.3 million euro to the IMF. The advance payment will help protect the Bulgarian economy from negative foreign developments and will compensate for the partial increase in the foreign debt. The proposal has been considered by the council of the ruling parties during examination of draft budget 2006. The leaders of the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) have given their approval, Dnevnik newspaper reported.