Ivan Iskrov was chosen once again to be the manager of the Bulgarian national bank (BNB).

The proposal for the post came from the parliamentary group of GERB. His mandate will be six years and begins on October 10th 2009. The main reasoning behind the proposal of his candidature is the need for continuity in the management of the BNB, which will guarantee the normal functioning and stability of the banking system of Bulgaria.

According to Asen Agov, the proposed candidature of the Blue coalition is an act that will destabilize the work of BNB in a longer term. According to Agov, the previous mandate of Iskrov as a manager of BNB was a political appointment, a first of it’s kind in Bulgaria.

Asen Agov stated that the resignation of Iskrov from his previous mandate is amoral. Taxpayers are 600 million leva poorer after the deal that changed the national debt from dollars to euro. Asen Agov also called upon Iskrov to reveal the details around this deal.

Yane Yanev from RZS stated that the proposal for the second mandate of Iskrov as a manager of BNB is an unconventional decision compared to the practice over the last 20 years. According to Yanev, this decision was probably carefully thought over. He concluded that since the voters chose GERB as the leading party, this means that the parliament must do so as well. Yanev stated that Iskrov was politically supported by the democrats from DSB.

Iskrov was chosen with 195 votes “for”, one vote “against”, and 14 abstentions.