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Statement by Mr. Ivan Iskrov, BNB Governor, at the Opening of the
Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group Constituencies,
Sofia, 30 May 2015
Dear Ministers and Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure and honour on behalf of the BNB to welcome all of you to this year’s meetings
of the IMF and World Bank Group constituencies in Sofia.
It is a long-standing practice for these meetings each year to be hosted by a different member
country. I would like to recall that Bulgaria last hosted such a meeting in the already distant 1999.
Since that time, so many and so profound changes have taken place in our countries.
In this period our IMF constituency has grown. After the 2010 IMF governance reforms our
constituency comprises 15 countries already. This makes it the largest European constituency and
the second largest altogether, after the United States. Our group’s share amounts to 6.57% as an
overall share of the IMF votes.
Not only the constituency as a whole but individual member countries too have gone through
historic changes since 1999. The very geopolitical map of this part of the world was changing
before our eyes. That was particularly obvious in this side of Europe where four countries of our
constituency – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania – joined the EU and one of them – Cyprus –
joined the euro area. Today one of the largest countries in our constituency, Ukraine, has also set
out on the strategic road to EU accession and market reforms.
Our members from Central and Eastern Europe have seen serious institutional reforms and
restructuring as part of the processes of transition, preparation for EU membership and integration
into the European and global economic and political space. Radical economic reform policies were
pursued in our region – for instance those related to privatisation, making labour markets flexible,
economic liberalisation, attracting foreign investments, and combatting corruption and public sector
inefficiency.
Since the last meeting in Sofia, our economies have gone through several business cycles. Many
of the countries in our group have made significant economic progress. The following data is very
indicative. From 1999 to 2014, cumulative real GDP growth in the individual countries from our
constituency ranged from 25% in the Netherlands to 186% in Armenia. Please note that this period
coincided with the most severe global crisis in decades. Since 1999, cumulatively our economies
attracted foreign direct investments of over USD 2 trillion in total, while their direct investments in
other countries totalled USD 1.9 trillion. As seen from the UNCTAD data, Belgium attracted the
greatest amount of foreign direct investments in this period (nearly USD 995 billion), and Moldova
- the least (slightly over USD 3 billion). Belgium again made the highest amount of foreign direct
investments abroad in the period (USD 863 billion), while Macedonia made the least. This
statistical data also includes investments between constituency member countries1.
Here Bulgaria comes close to the ‘golden mean’. In the period after 1999 our total real GDP
growth reached 57% and we attracted foreign direct investments of nearly USD 53 billion.
Many of the countries of our IMF and World Bank constituencies have been developing in a
similar historical and economic environment. At the same time, the countries and regions
represented here today had to deal with their own specific challenges in recent years. Today’s
conference, however, brings us together with the relevance and significance of the issues we are
going to discuss.
The conference will focus on several important topics from the European and global agenda. The
three sessions will touch on specific, and I would even say ‘operational’, issues relating to current
policies, along with conceptual issues of longer-term economic and financial implications:
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FDI data cover the period 1999 - 2013 (Source: UNCTAD).
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
The first session will cover the topic of investments, and mobilising private and public
resources for them, as a factor for the recovery and the development of the European
economies. Participants in the session will show us the role of the European Investment
Bank and the ‘Investment Plan for Europe’ recently announced by the European
Commission (commonly known as the ‘Juncker Plan’), and with the International Finance
Corporation investment toolkit.
 The second session will explore the issues of economic growth within the context of
demographic challenges, including those related to the ageing of population. The session
will discuss the policies of income distribution, balancing between what is fair and what is
economically rational.
 The third session will deal with the work of the IMF and the World Bank on the Financial
Sector Assessment Programmes (FSAPs), against the background of global changes in
banking regulations and supervisory practices in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 crisis. Last
year, the IMF completed a review of the FSAP framework; hence the meeting in Sofia is an
excellent opportunity to discuss current aspects of conducting FSAPs in the member
countries. Thus, for instance, we will discuss FSAPs in the light of issues stemming from:
the new capital regime in the EU (including CRD IV); the asset quality reviews and stress
tests in the banking systems; establishing the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Single
Resolution Mechanism for banks in the euro area; the communication strategies in the
context of financial stability policies.
I hope that today we will all benefit from a good working atmosphere and have fruitful and
memorable discussions!
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Finally, please allow me to note the particularly valuable cooperation and the excellent working
relationships we had during all these years - in both our bilateral contacts with the IMF and the
World Bank, and between the countries within the constituency. Looking back, now that my nearly
12 years as BNB Governor are coming to an end, I express my gratitude to the Executive Directors
of the IMF and the World Bank present here, Mr. Snel and Mr. Heemskerk, to the representatives of
the 15 countries from our constituency, and through them - to all their colleagues from the present
or the past with whom we have been working together in previous years.
Thank you for your attention.
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