Ministry of Finance :: Government Debt Directorate

Government Debt Directorate

Director of the Directorate
Milena Boikova

Contact details:
102 "G. S. Rakovski" Str.
1040 Sofia, Bulgaria
telephone: (+359) 2/9859 2452

e-mail:

Directorate's main task:

Government Debt Directorate exercises control over the amount, dynamics and service of all financial liabilities assumed on behalf and at the expense of the state, which are a liability of the state and which cover domestic and external government debt. It plans, organizes and controls the activities related to the process of assuming and servicing the government debt and the measures for its management. The Directorate builds and maintains a fair, efficient and transparent government securities market by improving the legal framework, introducing regulations and exercising control over financial market infrastructure and participants.

Issues Division:

implements the overall activity related to development of different types of estimated government securities’ financing to plan and conduct the Ministry of Finance issuing policy;
performs the necessary activities to conduct auctions under Ordinance No. 5 as of 4.10.2007 on the terms and conditions for acquisition, registration, payment and trading of government securities;
organizes and coordinates the entire process of issuing bonds on international markets under the Global medium-term program of the Republic of Bulgaria for issuing debt on international markets (GMTN programme), including preparation of necessary documentation with the joint lead managers and fiscal agent, update of base prospectus and presentation, provision of due diligence process, and investor requests’ admission and approval;
maintains an active dialogue with local and foreign financial institutions in regard to the MoF’ issuing policy;
monitors the state of play and development trends on the local and international financial markets, incl. performs analysis of domestic and international debt markets; develops proposals to optimise the debt portfolio, including buybacks, restructurings, exchanges, etc.;
participates in the development of the medium-term budget forecast, the State Budget Act of the Republic of Bulgaria, the State budget implementation report and the indicators, relevant to the Issuance Policy and to the measures for Government debt management
participates in the work of the The Economic and Financial Committee's Sub-Committee on EU Sovereign Debt Markets, in the OECD’s working groups on issues related to sovereign debt markets, as well as in other working formats and bodies on topics concerning the government bonds market;
participates in the drafting of regulatory acts relevant to the government securities market;
responsible for securing contractual relations with Credit rating agencies.

Strategies, Analyses and Statistical Reporting Division:

develops a Government Debt Management Strategy under the Government Debt Act for the period of the relevant medium-term budget forecast;
monitors the amount, structure and development of government and government guaranteed debt; and the debt and guarantees of the General Government sector and its sub-sectors;
analyzes the possibilities and develops debt management scenarios for various options and proposals for government debt management – new debt financing, buy-backs, swaps, debt restructuring, etc. Performs analysis and assessment of the risk associated with these operations in accordance with market conditions and trends, and under various assumptions for the of interest rates variation, exchange rates, etc., in the context of their influence on the amount and structure of the debt;
coordinates the process of development of the medium-term budget forecast and the Draft State Budget Law for the relevant year in its part referring to the budget debt funding and government debt service costs of government and government guaranteed debt, and the debt and guarantees of the General Government sector;
provides for the overall process of the Council of Ministers' review and approval of the projects applying under the procedure of the Ordinance on the Conditions which Investment Projects Funded by Government Loans and Projects Applying for Government Guarantee Funding Should Meet (adopted by CMD 337/1.12.2015, promulgated in SG No 94 of 2015, in force as from 1.1.2016);
prepares and submits statistical data on the debt of the General Government sector and its sub-sectors;
participates in the preparation of the Convergence Program of Republic of Bulgaria in its part referring to the debt and guarantees of General Government sector and its sub-sectors;
takes part in the preparation of various information materials, reports and presentations intended to provide different, in terms of content and scope, information on the government debt to international and local government organizations and financial institutions;
prepares regular publications and maintains databases providing the necessary public information about the state and dynamics of government and government guaranteed debt, debt and guarantees of Central Government sub-sector, and consolidated debt and guarantees of the General Government sector and its sub-sectors.

Debt Service Division:

provides for the overall process of servicing the government and government guaranteed debt of the Republic of Bulgaria through the Bulgarian National Bank and other banks, in their capacity as fiscal and payment agents;
keeps the Official Register of government and government guaranteed debt, incl. a database of daily exchange rates and interest rates;
prepares a calendar of the forthcoming payments/proceeds to/from the central budget as a result of government debt operations for the purposes of cash management of the liquidity of government finances on a quarterly basis;
draws up monthly and annual reports on the state of the government and government guaranteed debt and monitors the compliance of the debt indicators of the annual State Budget Law with the information in the debt register;
makes assessments of and prepares periodic information about the expected performance of the debt parameters for the current year;
participates in the process of drafting the medium-term budget forecast and the State Budget Law for the relevant year setting a reserve for covering the risk of government guarantee activation to external creditors;
draws up the limitations under Article 37 of the Public Finance Law concerning government debt to be included in the State Budget Law for the relevant year;
carries out activities related to securing payments to credit rating agencies on the basis of agreements between the Republic of Bulgaria and the respective credit agency;
provides information on the debt of institutional units classified in the Central Government sub-sector.

Control over Transactions with Government Securities Division:

assesses on an on-going basis the cumulative impact of all EU requirements, standards and rules on the GS market and ensures the taking of adequate corresponding measures at national level;
makes different analyses and prepares proposals for improving the GS market with the view of adopting the best market practices of developed financial systems and encouraging the further integration of the domestic GS market, including the facilitating infrastructure, to the community capital market;
develops the methodology and the legislative framework of the GS market and participates in the preparation of draft legislation relevant to the GS market;
analyses the opportunities for the additional diversification of the offered instruments on the GS market by way of exploring of the most effective approaches for undertaking measures at national level aiming at ensuring the process for the placement of sustainable bonds, including their structuring in compliance with the priority European and national policies;
prepares and makes public quantitative and qualitative criteria for assessment and selection of basic qualified participants in the domestic GS market that actively cooperate for the development of a liquid and effective internal GS market based on full transparency and high level of awareness of the market participants;
participates in the process of GS market participants' integration in the market infrastructure while observing maximum protection of the rights over client assets at all levels of the model for holding and disposal of GS;
supports the Minister of Finance in the process of organization, regulation and control of transparent and effective market infrastructure before and after the transaction with the view of encouraging GS market transparency and liquidity;
supports the Minister of Finance in performing his/her regulatory powers under the provisions of Article 36(2) of the Government Debt Act in respect of:
a) selection of GS primary dealers and control over the observance of the obligations for GS primary dealership; b) control over the systems for GS transactions registration with BNB and with the sub-depositories of GS, together with the BNB.
supports the Minister of Finance in performing his/her regulatory powers concerning the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 regarding GS and GS credit default swaps.