The Bulgarian National Bank, 1926–1935

doi:10.1017/9781009367578.013

10 - The Bulgarian National Bank, 1926–1935

Revamping the Institution, Addressing the Depression

from Part II - Specific

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 November 2023

Roumen Avramov

Edited by

Barry Eichengreen and

Andreas Kakridis

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Barry Eichengreen: Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Andreas Kakridis: Affiliation:
Bank of Greece and Panteion University, Athens

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Summary

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) was restructured repeatedly between 1926 and 1935, but these restructurings were superficial and incoherent, producing contradictory outcomes. The liberal spirit of the initial 1926-8 reforms dissolved with the onset of the Great Depression. Subsequently, the BNB was endowed with new instruments and tasked with carrying out the interventionist policies adopted in the 1930s, thus paving the way for the bank’s eventual role in the communist planned economy. This chapter focuses on the significance of BNB’s state ownership and on the tight economic conditionality attached to 1926 and 1928 loans sponsored by the League of Nations. By contrasting policies followed in Bulgaria and Greece during the Depression, it challenges Eichengreen’s hypothesis that heavy defaulters and countries leaving the gold exchange standard performed better relative to those that sought to maintain their reputations as decent debtors.

Keywords

Bulgaria conditionality foreign loans default central bank independence League of Nations Vladimir Mollov transfer problem Stefan Stefanov Asen Christophoroff

Type: Chapter
Information: The Spread of the Modern Central Bank and Global Cooperation
1919–1939
, pp. 268 - 300

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367578.013 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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