European System of Central Banks

The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) criticised in an official statement the planned reintroduction of the 10% tax on bank deposits interest rates.

The leaking of documents on the rescue of Cyprus’s second-biggest bank distorts the truth about the country’s bailout and may damage confidence in the euro, former European Central Bank Governing Council member Panicos Demetriades (photo) said.

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) governor Ivan Iskrov is likely to step down by the end of November, sources in Parliament say.

The arrangement has been made after consultations Iskrov held with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the parliamentary groups of parties in the ruling axis, the website Mediapool.bg reports citing the sources.

The leaking of documents on the rescue of Cyprus’s second-biggest bank distorts the truth about the country’s bailout and may damage confidence in the euro, former European Central Bank Governing Council member Panicos Demetriades said.

Bulgaria's central bank on Wednesday said it approved the design of a two-lev coin that will replace banknotes of the same face value next year.

Bulgaria becomes unattractive for foreign investment, shows a report of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), quoted by the Sega daily.

According to the data in the first three quarter of this year the country attracted only EUR 1.105 B in foreign investments. This is by 4.8% lower than in the same period of 2013, which was a record low year.

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has warned against proposals to amend the Law on Bank Deposits tabled by the socialist opposition.

In a statement to the media the BNB said Thursday the idea to secure additional money for the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund to withstand a crisis is not in line with the principles of the currency board and also the rules of the European Union.

A large group of professional forecasters cut their outlook for eurozone inflation and growth, underlining a trend that could prompt the European Central Bank to take more policy action to kick-start the region's flagging economy.

European Central Bank funding to Greek banks rose 3 percent in October, Greek central bank data showed on Wednesday.

ECB funding rose to 43.85 billion euros last month from 42.56 billion euros in September.

Greek banks have reduced their exposure but still depend on ECB funding for liquidity.

Small and medium-sized companies in Greece have the highest need for bank funding in the eurozone, but find it hard to get, a survey by the European Central Bank and the European Commission showed on Wednesday.