If you need to find the senior managers of the investment
banks' emerging market debt divisions this autumn, check out the
business class seats of flights between London and Sofia.
The bankers have convinced themselves that the time is ideal for
Bulgaria to raise money from the Eurobond market and they are
marketing to a government that needs little convincing.
The decisive factor has been the election in June of a new
government, headed by Simeon Saxe-Coburg, the former King Simeon
II. Despite tensions among its coalition partners, it has the
popular support to see through structural economic reform, take on
corruption and reduce bureaucracy.
If it does so, Bulgaria will be able to build on the solid
foundations created since the economy crashed in 1996. The country
now has a stable currency and a sound fiscal performance. There is
a commitment to further privatization, which will further boost an
economy...
