Bulgaria’s Ruling Party, Opposition Clash over New Debt of EUR 8 B by 2017

Bulgaria’s ruling party GERB and opposition party the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) have locked horns over a proposal for new borrowing of EUR 8 B by 2017.

Under a bill introduced in Parliament and published on the website of the National Assembly, Bulgaria has chosen four banks to manage its EUR 8 B bond program over the next three years - Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., HSBC Plc., Societe Generale, Unicredit Bank AG.

The bill drafted by the government envisages the ratification of a Dealer Agreement between Bulgaria and the four banks on the global medium-term note (GMTN) program worth EUR 8 B.

The maximum maturity of the bonds is up to 30 years and the maximum interest rate is up to 10%.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned a provisional Baa2 rating with a stable outlook to Bulgaria’s global medium-term (2015-2017) bond program.

BSP claimed Wednesday that the plan of the ruling party was scandalous as the documents envisaging colossal sums of money had been pushed through under a fast-track procedure. BSP representatives, as cited by mediapool.bg, argued that the new borrowing was to provide the ruling party with “financial luxury” and “peace.”

GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) MPs, on the other hand, underscored that the new debt was sought for a 3-year period and a large part of it would be used to cover existing debt maturing in that period, while the remainder would go to financing the fiscal deficit.

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