Publication: Financial Sector Assessment : Bulgaria
Date
2002-12
ISSN
Published
2002-12
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
This Financial Sector Assessment (FSA)
summarizes the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP)
findings for Bulgaria, and reports on the actions of the
government and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) to date in
response to the FSAP recommendations. The FSAP mission
visited Sofia during the period October 29 to November 14,
2001. The Bulgaria FSAP took place after five years of
aggressive financial reforms in response to the deep
economic and financial crisis of 1996-97. After the collapse
of the banking system and establishment of the Currency
Board Arrangement (CBA) in July 1997, the government and the
BNB pursued structural and institutional reforms in both the
enterprise and banking sectors, including the privatization
of about 85 percent of the banking system assets, mainly to
foreign financial institutions, and the upgrading of banking
supervision capabilities at the BNB. The FSAP mission
occurred at a time when the banking system had stabilized,
but financial intermediation remained low compared to the
more advanced transition economies. In addition to the
assessments of compliance with standards and codes, the
Bulgaria mission focused on addressing the constraints to
lending and advising the BNB on how to ensure that an
expansion of bank lending does not jeopardize the gains in
financial stabilization. The FSAP findings were major inputs
to the medium term program to be supported by the
Programmatic Adjustment Loans (PALS).
Citation
“World Bank. 2002. Financial Sector Assessment : Bulgaria. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/15947 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”