Bank Association Chair Calls for Swift Election of Governor of Bulgarian National Bank

The election of a new Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) should be completed as fast as possible, according to Petar Andronov, Chair of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria.

The term in office of the current BNB Governor, Ivan Iskrov, expires in October.

Andronov, as cited by the Bulgarian National Television, declared Sunday that the discussions were taking too long, taking into account that the BNB Governor, once appointed, would have to nominate a Deputy Governor who would be in charge of the Bank Supervision unit.

As regards the nomination of Dimitar Radev from the International Monetary Fund, he said that he only knew that he enjoyed the trust and support of all of his colleagues.

Anrdonov underscored that a director of the Bank Supervision unit was needed urgently.

As regards the upcoming procedure for the assessment of the quality of assets of banks, he made clear that the preparations had been underway for over a year.

He noted that the procedure had been carried out by the eurozone's 120 largest banks before they were placed under the supervision of the European Central Bank.

Andronov said that the methodology was clear but BNB had to adapt everything to the domestic conditions.
He declared that the Deputy Governor of BNB would have a lot of work to do in connection with the preparations for the procedure as a failure would have a disastrous impact.

Andronov argued that Bulgaria was not the only country which had not adopted the EU's Bank Recovery & Resolution Directive, adding that it was a very complex piece of legislation.

He said that the downward trend in interest rates on deposits appeared to be ending, adding that it was likely to happen soon with interest rates on loans.