Soaring inflation, the current account deficit and the boom in banking loans were taking centre stage in talks between the regular IMF mission and the Bulgarian Government, the Government media office quoted IMF country director for Bulgaria Juan Jose Fernandes Ansola as saying.

A team of IMF experts, with the IMF chief for Bulgaria and Romania Albert Jaeger at the helm, has been conducting regular consultations with the Government and will be staying in Bulgaria up to October 16.

Emerging from an October 5 meeting with the IMF team, Bulgaria’s Deputy Finance Minister Lyubomir Datsov reiterated the governmental forecast for 6.3 to 6.5 per cent GDP growth in 2007. He said that budget revenues were intact, with projections owing to sweeping and successful structural reforms and the decrease in tax rates.

Datsov gave an assurance that the Government remained steadfast on structural reforms and this objective would underlie calculations for the 2008 Budget Bill.