Bulgaria has not turned to the International Monetary Fund for a loan to help it cope with the effects of the global financial crisis.

The information was reported by Bloomberg.com, citing Tonny Lybek, the Washington-based lender's local representative.

The Bloomberg site informed Monday that Bulgaria was having informal discussions with the International Monetary Fund over the growing negative effects of the global financial crisis.

The information was published after Raiffeisen Centrobank SA Chief Economist, Peter Brezinschek, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's Timothy Ash indicated Bulgaria may be on the brink of requesting a bailout.

"I am not aware of informal talks on a loan agreement with Bulgaria," Lybek is quoted as saying later Monday during a phone interview from Bucharest. "We have not received a loan request from the authorities.The Raiffeisen report is "surprising," It's a sovereign decision. When we receive a loan request, we will look at it."

The Bloomberg article points out that Bulgaria, the poorest European Union nation, has been hit by production cuts and layoffs as companies face shrinking markets, but Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev rejects speculation that the country needs a bailout, similar to ones won by Serbia and Romania, Hungary, Ukraine and Latvia.

Raiffeisen Centrobank SA Chief Economist Brezinschek said in a June 26 interview that informal discussions were being held to secure assistance for Bulgaria from the IMF, Bloomberg reminds.

The article talks about Sofia Mayor Boiko Borissov as the top contender to become Bulgaria's next Prime Minister after the July 5 elections and cites his June 18 statement that he planed to sign a funding agreement with the IMF to guarantee the country's financial stability.

Lars Christensen, Chief Analyst at Danske Bank SA in Copenhagen is also quoted as saying that the current-account gap, soaring private foreign-currency debt, declining budget revenue and a drop in investment will erode reserves and put pressure on the lev.

Tonny Lybek further informed the IMF will revise its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast for Bulgaria in September from an April 22 estimate of a 3,5% contraction, adding that Bulgaria froze wages for some 400,000 state workers, including doctors, teachers and administration officials to compensate for a 6% budget revenue shortfall.

On April 22, 2009 the IMF urged Bulgaria's government to cut spending by 20 percent.

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