(This is the Cabinet statement on April 24 2007 on the repayment of Bulgaria’s debt to the IMF)

An operation on pre-term repayment of the entire remaining debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the amount of 204.8 million special drawing rights (SDR) was made today.

The transaction concerns the nine tranches from the Three-Year Extended Fund Facility concluded between Bulgaria and the IMF on September 25 1998.

This is the third and last operation on pre-term repayment of obligations to the IMF. With the first two operations, effected at the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006, Bulgaria repaid three tranches of the 1998 extended facility to the amount of 288.3 million leva and six tranches of the Two-Year Standby Agreement with the IMF dating from 2002 to the amount of 296.2 million leva.

The prepayment of the entire remaining amount of the debt will reduce the government and government-guaranteed debt, amounting to 8505.5 million leva by March 31 2007, or 16.6 per cent of GDP, as well as to improvement of its qualitative characteristics.

The operation will contribute to the preservation of stability and the reduction of the vulnerability of the economy from negative external shocks in the context of its influence on limiting the GDP growth rate.

After the transaction, the fiscal reserve is expected to amount to about 5.6 billion leva according to end-April operational data.