The National Assembly rejected on the first vote changes to the Law on the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), which aim to guarantee the independence of the BNB in accordance with the rules of the ECB. Of all the parliamentary groups, the PP-DB deputies unanimously supported the changes introduced by the caretaker cabinet and prepared by the BNB in December last year, which provide for the governor or deputy governor of the BNB to resign from the central bank if appointed caretaker prime minister.
According to the submitter, the proposed changes to the new BNB Law are in accordance with Article 130 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and guarantee compliance with the principle of institutional independence of the central bank.
In a speech from the parliamentary rostrum, Martin Dimitrov from the PP-DB group called on GERB and the other parties from the ruling majority to provide an answer as to why they do not support changes that are directly related to the country's entry into the eurozone and the independence and stability of the BNB. “Central banks must be independent.
This means that the executive branch does not have any mechanisms for interfering in their work. This guarantees the stability of monetary policy. At the same time, GERB continues to fail to provide an answer as to why they do not support the proposed changes“, said Dimitrov. It is a mistake to reject a bill that is part of the requirements for adopting the euro at the very time when we will be asking for an extraordinary convergence report and a positive decision.
“Although we meet the conditions, the eurozone is under threat. We have no explanation as to why GERB did not support the bill and we will wait for an answer from them. Today, only we supported the eurozone“, said Ivaylo Mirchev to journalists on the sidelines of the National Assembly.