GOVERNMENT foreign debt was $8.513 billion on December 31, 2001, down by $458 million compared to a year earlier.
This was stated in Bulgarian National Banks annual report for 2001, which was approved by Parliament last Thursday.
Gross external debt stood at $9.040 billion, equivalent to 73.1 per cent of GDP, down by $460 million (4.4 per cent) year on year.
In 2001, the Government effected debt-service principal and interest payments totalling $1.521 billion. The new loans and deposits received over the year totalled $1.152 million.
As a result of transactions, the debt decreased by $199 million; if exchange rate fluctuations are considered, the figure is $261 million.
According to a report by the parliamentary committee on budget and finance, BNBs operation in 2001 was affected by the global economic slowdown, the economic slump in the US and Japan, and the September 11 terrorist attacks on targets in the US.
Over the year, the central bank did not exert direct influence on monetary supply, which, in the conditions of the currency board arrangement, is determined by the level of currency reserves and the economic agents demand for currency. The stability of the national banking sector rendered it unnecessary for the central bank to assume the function of a coordinator of highest instance, the committee said.
The banks lending activity increased in 2001, according to the Annual Report of the BNB. Domestic credit increased by $816.7 million leva ($406 million), 17.5 per cent in nominal terms and 12.2 per cent in real terms. This is largely due to the increase in the lev component by 556.3 million leva, up 34.5 per cent on 2000. The foreign exchange component rose by 8.6 per cent.
The low level of loans to the real sector in 2001 shows that commercial banks preferred to invest in foreign assets, the central bank said. Their wary lending policy can be attributed to the comparatively high risk inherent in insufficiently functioning enterprises and the lack of adequate investment projects, the report said. The law affords creditors poor protection, which also had a restrictive influence on domestic credit.
Meanwhile, last Thursday, BNB Governor Svetoslav Gavriiski said the decision of the bank to close its branches in Bourgas, Rousse and Vratsa, as of October 1 was taken after careful analyses of the BNBs cash desk performance.
Graviiski said that downsizing their branch networks was a policy of central banks across the world. He said the closure of the branches would lead to restructuring and improvement of the efficiency of money circulation.
Left MP Lyubomir Panteleev countered that European practice was to have a central bank branch to every 300,000 to 400,000 people.
Until the decision takes effect, BNB will monitor the processes in the three regions and, should it see there would be problems, reconsider it and take appropriate measures, Gavriiski said. He said BNB was not withdrawing from this activity and that it has concluded contracts with commercial banks to conduct it.
After the redenomination of the Bulgarian currency, the notes in circulation decreased considerably and the volume of notes passing through BNBs branches nationwide decreased likewise.
The issue was not whether BNB was capable of maintaining these branches, but that the closures were based on findings about the efficiency of cash desk operations, he said.
This was stated in Bulgarian National Banks annual report for 2001, which was approved by Parliament last Thursday.
Gross external debt stood at $9.040 billion, equivalent to 73.1 per cent of GDP, down by $460 million (4.4 per cent) year on year.
In 2001, the Government effected debt-service principal and interest payments totalling $1.521 billion. The new loans and deposits received over the year totalled $1.152 million.
As a result of transactions, the debt decreased by $199 million; if exchange rate fluctuations are considered, the figure is $261 million.
According to a report by the parliamentary committee on budget and finance, BNBs operation in 2001 was affected by the global economic slowdown, the economic slump in the US and Japan, and the September 11 terrorist attacks on targets in the US.
Over the year, the central bank did not exert direct influence on monetary supply, which, in the conditions of the currency board arrangement, is determined by the level of currency reserves and the economic agents demand for currency. The stability of the national banking sector rendered it unnecessary for the central bank to assume the function of a coordinator of highest instance, the committee said.
The banks lending activity increased in 2001, according to the Annual Report of the BNB. Domestic credit increased by $816.7 million leva ($406 million), 17.5 per cent in nominal terms and 12.2 per cent in real terms. This is largely due to the increase in the lev component by 556.3 million leva, up 34.5 per cent on 2000. The foreign exchange component rose by 8.6 per cent.
The low level of loans to the real sector in 2001 shows that commercial banks preferred to invest in foreign assets, the central bank said. Their wary lending policy can be attributed to the comparatively high risk inherent in insufficiently functioning enterprises and the lack of adequate investment projects, the report said. The law affords creditors poor protection, which also had a restrictive influence on domestic credit.
Meanwhile, last Thursday, BNB Governor Svetoslav Gavriiski said the decision of the bank to close its branches in Bourgas, Rousse and Vratsa, as of October 1 was taken after careful analyses of the BNBs cash desk performance.
Graviiski said that downsizing their branch networks was a policy of central banks across the world. He said the closure of the branches would lead to restructuring and improvement of the efficiency of money circulation.
Left MP Lyubomir Panteleev countered that European practice was to have a central bank branch to every 300,000 to 400,000 people.
Until the decision takes effect, BNB will monitor the processes in the three regions and, should it see there would be problems, reconsider it and take appropriate measures, Gavriiski said. He said BNB was not withdrawing from this activity and that it has concluded contracts with commercial banks to conduct it.
After the redenomination of the Bulgarian currency, the notes in circulation decreased considerably and the volume of notes passing through BNBs branches nationwide decreased likewise.
The issue was not whether BNB was capable of maintaining these branches, but that the closures were based on findings about the efficiency of cash desk operations, he said.
