At a meeting in Washington of International Monetary Fund and World Bank officials, the IMF asked Bulgaria to write off $105 million owed by highly-indebted countries. The IMF put this in an official request to Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski, who headed the Bulgarian delegation. For several years, the IMF and the World Bank have been demanding that Bulgaria cancel the debts of the seven poorest countries in the world. At the same time, the IMF is insisting on strict fiscal policies and regular payment of Bulgarian foreign obligations.
According to an IMF report, Bulgaria is among countries that could minimise the amount of foreign debt repaid to it. Bulgaria has to collect a total of $2.2 billion from 27 countries. The biggest amount is owed by Iraq, $1.59 billion, followed by Libya with $55.1 million. Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Zambia also owe Bulgaria money. A special report shows that Bulgaria's debt could have been a third smaller, if the country had not lent money to insolvent states. Bulgaria owes $8.923 million to other countries, Novinar newspaper reported.