Bulgaria, World Bank Group renew partnership for six more years

The World Bank Group's (WBG) Board of Executive Directors has endorsed the new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with Bulgaria for the 2017-2022 financial years period, officials said here on Friday.

The CPF marked a renewed engagement with Bulgaria, including the first new lending operations since 2010, the World Bank Country Office in Bulgaria said in a press release.

The partnership would be reviewed every two years to assess progress and priorities and recalibrate specific objectives and activities in the light of developments and changes in priorities, the press release said.

"For the first two years, the partnership will focus on two areas -- strengthening institutions for sustainable growth and investing in people," it said.

Under the first area, the CPF objectives were to improve the resilience and stability of the financial sector; strengthen the electricity sector and improve energy efficiency; and better protect natural assets and improve efficiency in use of resources, the press release said.

"The program includes two lending instruments in support of Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund and National Program for Residential Energy Efficiency for a total amount of 550 million euro (616.86 million U.S. dollars)," it said.

The second area, namely investing in people, reflected the shared commitment by the government and WBG to ensure that the benefits of economic growth accrued to all Bulgarians and provide an opportunity for everyone to contribute to country's prosperity, it said.

The WBG has been partnering with Bulgaria for more than 20 years.

According to World Bank's country manager for Bulgaria Tony Thompson, "the emergence of a young, energetic and indigenous private sector successfully competing internationally demonstrates the potential of Bulgaria's economy that has not yet been fully realized," the press release said. Endit