Publications :: Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria http://www.minfin.bg/en/ Sat, 18 May 2013 07:30:35 +0300 en hourly 1 http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7890 http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7890 Mon, 13 May 2013 17:50:50 +0300 Minister of Finance Kalin Hristov will take part in the ECOFIN meeting to be held in Brussels on 14 May. The EU Finance Ministers will discuss the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms, and the extension of the scope of the Savings Directive. They will also discuss issues related to closer coordination within the Economic and Monetary Union, as well as the results of the in-depth reviews of the macroeconomic imbalances procedure. The Ministers of Finance will take part in the Annual Meeting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Board of Governors before the ECOFIN meeting. The agenda of the meeting includes discussions on the implementation of the Bank's priorities and the increase of its capital, approval of the EIB Board of Directors with term of office 2013 - 2018, presentation of the audit report of the Bank and its financial statement for 2012. http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7892 http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7892 Mon, 13 May 2013 16:33:13 +0300 The Ministry of Finance reopened a 7-year government securities (GS) issue with maturity 16 January 2020. The volume offered was EUR 20 million and the yield achieved - 2.45%. This indicator registered considerable decrease compared with the previous reopening of the issue in March 2013 when the yield was 2.82%. Demand exceeded supply almost three times, the coverage coefficient reaching 2.83. All primary dealers took part in the auction subscribing EUR 56.68 million. Distribution by investor type is as follows: banks (75.83%), investment intermediaries (15.17%) and pension funds (9.00%). The yield achieved at the auction is considerably lower than that on bonds with similar characteristics of a number of EU Member States: Slovenia - 5.17%, Hungary - 4.35%, Croatia - 4.32%, Spain - 3.38%, Italy - 3.24%, Ireland - 2.92%, etc.After the fourth reopening the issue totals EUR 80 million which will increase its liquidity on the secondary market. http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7886 http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7886 Thu, 09 May 2013 14:00:45 +0300 The Minister of Finance Kalin Hristov will be chairing the 22nd Annual Meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). It will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 10 and 11 May 2013. Mr. Kalin Hristov is a Governor for Bulgaria to the financial institution and a Chair of the Board of Governors after the Bulgarian Governor was elected for this position in 2012. During the Annual Meeting Mr. Kalin Hristov will be having bilateral meetings with the EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti, with the Bank's Chief Economist Erik Berglof and with the Vice President of the European Investment Bank Wilhelm Molterer. The Finance Minister will be chairing the opening and the closing meeting of the forum which is expected to take decisions about the financial institution's activity. The Bulgarian delegation will also consist of Mr. Dimitar Kostov, Deputy Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank and Alternate Governor for Bulgaria to EBRD, Mrs. Stefka Slavova, Director for Bulgaria to EBRD, Mrs. Zhenya Dinkova, Director of International Financial Institutions and Cooperation Directorate of the Ministry of Finance and Mr. Alexander Velev, Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Istanbul. http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7884 http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7884 Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:37:38 +0300 The budget balance under the Consolidated Fiscal Programme (CFP) on a cash basis Q1 of 2013 is negative, amounting to BGN 795.6 million and is formed by a deficit under the national budget of 474.8 million and a deficit under EU funds of BGN 320.9 million. Compared to the same period of 2012, the CFP deficit grows by BGN 108.4 million in nominal terms mostly due to the higher social insurance expenditure, interest expenditure, the higher maintenance expenditure, the higher contribution to the general budget of the EU. On a monthly basis, the CFP deficit in end-March 2013 amounts to BGN 63.6 million against BGN 125.9 million for March 2012.CFP revenues and grants for Q1 of 2013 stand at BGN 6,154.5 million or 20.1% of the annual plans for 2013. Compared to the same period of 2012, CFP proceeds and grants stood at 20.7%, but it should be taken into account that due to the modified periods of declaration and payment of some taxes, the Q1 data are not entirely comparable to the data for the same period of last year.At end-March 2013, tax proceeds, including revenues from social security contributions, total BGN 5,118.6 million, which is 83.2% of the total CFP proceeds. Revenues from direct taxes are BGN 1,007.0 million, or 24.4% of the planned for the year. Indirect tax revenues amount to BGN 2,628.8 million, or 21.3% of the programme for the year, of which VAT revenues amounting to BGN 1,789.1 million, or 22.7%, excise duty revenues amounting to BGN 805.6 million, or 18.7%, customs duty revenues amounting to BGN 31.9 million, or 26.6%. Proceeds from other taxes, including property taxes and other taxes under the Corporate Income Tax Law, amount to BGN 177.6 million, or 20.6% of the plans for the year Revenues from social security and health insurance contributions as of 31 March 2013 are BGN 1,305.2 million, or 21.5% of those planned for the year.Non-tax revenues and grants amount to BGN 1,035.9 million, or 14.4% of those planned for the year. The expenditures under the consolidated budget, including the contribution of the Republic of Bulgaria to the EU budget, as of 31 March 2013 amount to BGN 6,950.2 million, or 21.9% of the planned for the year. Non-interest current expenditures amount to BGN 5,777.7 million, or 24% of the plans, capital expenditures (including net increment of state reserve) amount to BGN 525.3 million, or 9.7% of the plans under the State Budget Law for 2013, while interest payments - to BGN 319.2 million, or 36.5% of the plans for 2013. The part of Bulgaria's contribution to the EU budget, as paid for the first three months of 2013 from the central budget, amounts to BGN 327.8 million, which complies with Council Regulation 1150/2000.Fiscal reserve as of 31 March 2013 amounts to BGN 4.2 billion. At the beginning of April 2013 the European Commission refunded the national budget advance payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (direct payments for farmers amounting to BGN 829.9 million paid from the national budget in February 2013) and some expenditure under the Regional Development Programme from December 2012, which resulted in a considerable increase in the fiscal reserve. Data on consolidated budget implementation as of 31 March 2013 are published in "Statistics" section on the website of the Ministry of Finance. http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7879 http://www.minfin.bg/en/pubs/1/7879 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:13:28 +0300 The Ministry of Finance held an auction for the sale of 5-year government securities denominated in BGN and maturing in January 2018. The auction was successful in the two key indicators measuring investor confidence, i.e. dropping yield and strong investor interest. This fourth reopening of the bond since the start of the issuing 2013 reached a yield of 1.90% for the total approved quantity of government securities of BGN 50 million against the offers placed for BGN 161.75 million, which corresponds to a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.24. Just for comparison, the auction held on 21 January 2013 reached a yield of 1.66%, the yield of the auction on 18 February 2013 was 1.99% and that of the auction held at the end of March 2013 was 2.29% respectively. The yield of this bond is significantly lower than the current bond yield of a number of EU members: Slovenia - 5.27%, Portugal - 4.56%, Hungary - 4.89%, Croatia - 3.85%, Romania - 3.51%, Spain - 3.31%, Italy - 2.93%, Ireland - 2.40%. The auction reported extremely high interest from a large range of investors, i.e. banks, pension funds, insurance companies, trusts and guarantee funds. Banks acquired the largest share of GS - 53.30%, followed by pension funds with around 31.70%, insurance companies - 10.00% and trusts and guarantee funds with 5.00%. The total volume of the issue in circulation reached BGN 185 million after this auction, which increases its liquidity on the secondary market.