May 22 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Monday it has recommended to Bulgaria to take follow-up measures on the financial sector reviews, mainly concerning reinsurance contracts, group-level oversight, hard-to-value assets and related-party exposures.
Bulgaria should also cooperate with European bodies to improve banking and non-banking supervision, the Commission said in its 2017 country-specific recommendations, part of the European Semester Spring Package.
In February, the review of the assets of Bulgaria's pension funds and the balance sheets of the insurance and reinsurance companies, as well as the stress tests of insurers and re-insurers showed that the Bulgarian insurance and pension insurance sectors are stable.
Under the Commission’s recommendations, Bulgaria is also advised to take measures to facilitate the reduction of the high level of corporate non-performing loans (NPLs), such as accelerating the reform of the insolvency framework and promoting a functioning secondary market for NPLs.
Among the Commission’s other recommendations are improving tax collection and tax compliance, taking measures to reduce the extent of the informal economy and ensuring the implementation of the 2014-2020 National Public Procurement Strategy.