Bulgaria's Finance Minister Expects New Governor of Bulgarian National Bank by end-April

Bulgaria's Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov has suggested that a decision on appointing a new Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) should be in place by end-April.

Goranov, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio, made clear Friday that the two candidates whose names were already in circulation, Dimitar Radev and Nikolay Gorchev, both of them officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were good options for successors of incumbent Ivan Iskrov.

He added that talks were underway with other candidates too and that no MP would be appointed BNB Governor.

He assured that the issue would be approached carefully and that the candidates would be studied rigorously.

Goranov declared that the nomination would be discussed in Parliament as soon as the ruling coalition and, possibly, opposition parties, reached agreement on the candidate.

Bulgaria's Finance Minister underscored that it was important for the government to have a reliable partner in the face of BNB, while the political parties wanted for BNB to have a professional staff that would not allow a recurrence of "unfavorable developments."

Iskrov has been repeatedly asked to resign after the closure of Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB, Corpbank) in June 2014 following a run on deposits, according to reports of mediapool.bg.

Stressing that he could not leave BNB without a Governor at such a tough moment, Iskrov promised to resign as soon as Bulgaria's Parliament had chosen his successor.

Iskrov's term in office expires in October.