Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister, Petar Dimitrov, has supported the Bulgarian banking system.

Dimitrov also said that the country was on the verge of attracting a large number of multinational companies into the Bulgarian Energy market, at an upbeat meeting in Varna late Friday.

Dimitrov stated that Bulgaria's banking system is, "not only healthy, but actually indecently healthy". He added that Bulgaria has had a regime of anti-crisis since 1997, so is currently coping well with the global financial problems.

"Bulgaria's banks made an overall profit of BGN 1.4 B in 2008 and at the moment we have a currency reserve of BGN 25 B and a fiscal reserve of BGN 8.4 B," Dimitrov stated in support of his positive mood, BGNES reported.

Minister Dimitrov pointed out that Bulgaria's economic growth in 2008 amounted to 6% and that put it in third place in the EU. He added that due to the global economic crisis, Bulgarian economic growth for 2009 would drop to 2 or 2.5% instead of the previously forecast 4.5%.

There was also positive news from Dimitrov on the subject of foreign investment. He said, "a few multinationals are already preparing to enter the Bulgarian energy market. Besides renewable energy sources, these multinationals are interested in investing in business construction, information and communication technologies."