Within two months, the Bulgarian government has placed four issues of BGN bonds worth BGN 700.6 million. According to politicians in the ruling majority, this was done in order to provide funds to pay for the deal to buy F-16 aircraft. At first glance, such explanations are, to put it mildly, strange given that before the placement of these debt securities the government's fiscal reserve with the BNB was BGN 10.78 billion (at the end of July - after the sale of the bonds it was BGN 11.59 billion). Moreover, according to the Ministry of Finance, the surplus in the state budget in the middle of the year is BGN 1.98 billion, and under the Consolidated Fiscal Program – it is BGN 3.23 billion. But as long as the implementation of the planned capital expenditures for 2019 - BGN 2.76 billion, is below 10% of this amount for the first half of the year, the reported budget surpluses should be taken rather conditional.

The number of residential building permits issued in Bulgaria in the second quarter of 2019 rose 7.8% on the year, reaching 1,591, the country's statistical office, NSI, said. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of residential building permits issued in the April-June period increased by 27.6%, the NSI said in a statement. A total of 31 permits for construction of office buildings were issued in the second quarter, down by 3.1% compared to the same period of last year. Compared to the previous quarter, construction permits for administrative buildings rose 10.7%. Regarding other types of buildings, 1,168 permits were issued in the quarter under review, a decrease of 8.3% year-on-year and an increase of 1.7% quarter-on-quarter.

Thailand-based chemical manufacturer Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the capital of Italian textile company Sinterama. The transaction is through a subsidiary of Indorama Netherlands and is subject to regulatory approval. It is expected to be completed in the fall. The deal also affects a factory in Bulgaria Sinterama Bulgaria - part of the Sinterama group. The textile company in Nova Zagora has 180 employees and revenues of BGN 37 million. The Bulgarian company started its business in 2012, when the parent company bought the shares of Torchitura Nova Zagora from Miroglio SPA - Italy. Today, Sinterama Bulgaria operates on leased land and buildings for rent owned by Miroglio Bulgaria, a subsidiary of Miroglio SPA - Italy. In 2018, Sinterama Bulgaria reported more than 10% growth in revenues (exceeding BGN 37.4 million) compared to 2017 and over 33% - in profit (BGN 1.6 million for 2018). However, the turnover is far from the company's peak in 2016 with over BGN 49 million in revenue.

Bulgaria's Trace Group Hold said that its wholly-owned unit Infra Commerce has completed the absorption of local acrylic paint producer Himcolor on June 3, as all relevant documents were entered into the commercial register. Infra Commerce's capital will not be increased as a result of the merger. Infra Commerce acquired 100% of Himcolor in April. Himcolor's capital comprises 5,000 shares of BGN 10 in par value each. Infra Commerce booked revenue of BGN 33.5 million in 2018 and closed the year with a net loss of BGN 350,000.

Spanish-based producer of equipment for railway systems CAF said that two consortia led by its unit CAF Signalling have signed contracts for the overhaul of the signalling systems of two railway sections located in Bulgaria and Slovenia, respectively. The price of the deals was not disclosed. Bulgaria's National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) has awarded a consortium comprising CAF Signalling and Bulgaria's AER to refurbish and modernise the signalling and telecommunications systems on a railway section of about 12 km length connecting the capital Sofia and the village of Voluyak. The project in Bulgaria envisage the design, installation, testing and commissioning of the signalling equipment and systems along with the implementation of new electronic interlocks produced by CAF Signalling. CAF Signalling designs and provides integral signalling solutions.

Bulgarian state-owned arms trader Kintex said that its net profit halved to BGN 6.0 million in the first half of 2019 from BGN 12.2 million in the same period of 2018. Kintex's revenue dropped to BGN 50.2 million in the first six months of 2019 from BGN 89.9 million in the comparable period of last year. Total expenses fell to BGN 43.6 million in the review period from BGN 76.3 million the year before, as cost of goods sold plunged to BGN 32.3 million from BGN 58.6 million. The company's assets amounted to BGN 146.2 million at the end of June, down from BGN 155.1 million a year earlier. Kintex, established in 1966, became a joint stock company wholly owned by the state in 1992. Kintex is specialized in exports of products manufactured by Bulgarian defence and machine-building industries.

First Investment Bank formally applied to the rating agency Moody's Investors Service to withdraw its rating. In the announcement, the financial institution did not state the reason why it stopped working with the US agency. The application was submitted on 21 June. However, the bank will continue to work with Fitch Ratings. On August 1 Moody`s announced that it lowered FIBank's long-term deposit rating from B2 to B3 and changed the outlook from stable to negative, i.e. likelihood of future decline. FIBank's rating for internal stability and strength (BCA) was downgraded from 'caa1' to 'b3'. The agency said the decrease was due to the results of stress tests and a review of assets by the European Central Bank (ECB) announced a week ago. According to the agency's experts, the quality of FIBank's loan portfolio may be at greater risk to the bank's solvency than previously thought. The capital deficits identified in the review and stress tests are highlighted.

The deal reached on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union is the "best possible" and is not up for negotiation but the European Commission is ready to talk with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a spokeswoman for the bloc's executive said. She was responding to an op-ed by British Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay, who said the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, must go back to EU leaders to change the terms of the talks because the British parliament will not accept the current deal. "So far it...remains unchanged - this position that the withdrawal agreement is not up for negotiation but we are open to talk about the political declaration," Mina Andreeva told a news briefing in Brussels. "And of course we are willing to talk and engage with Prime Minister Johnson." Writing in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Barclay said the "political realities" had changed since Barnier's instructions were set after Britain voted to leave the EU more than three years ago and that his mandate should reflect those differences. Johnson has insisted Britain will leave the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal, and has told the bloc there is no point in new talks unless negotiators are willing to drop the so-called Northern Irish backstop agreed with his predecessor, Theresa May.

A recession will come in nine months’ time if President Donald Trump goes one step further in his plan to impose tariffs on Chinese-made consumer products, a leading brokerage argues. In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley makes the case that a recession will hit if Trump imposes 25% tariffs on some $300 billion of Chinese goods not currently subjected to tariffs. Trump has said he’ll impose a 10% tariff on those goods in September. That’s bad enough, but tolerable, says Morgan Stanley, which makes the case that if those 10% tariffs are kept for longer than four or five months, global growth will remain weak in the range of 2.8% to 3%, despite interest-rate cuts from central banks. Global growth was 3.6% in 2018 and projected to grow 3.2% in 2019, according to the July estimates from the International Monetary Fund. Morgan Stanley defines a global recession as one where global growth is below 2.5%. The real concern, however, is corporate confidence. “While we don’t know the exact tipping point, we are cognizant of the risk of a potential non-linear tightening in financial conditions and its impact on capex and the labor market,” the Morgan Stanley analysts say. The risks, they argue, are skewed to downside.

South Korea said it plans to spend 7.8 trillion won ($6.5 billion or 687 billion yen) over the next seven years to develop technologies for industrial materials and parts as it moves to reduce its dependence on Japan during an escalating trade row. Trade Minister Sung Yun-mo said the Seoul government will also financially support South Korean companies in mergers and acquisitions of foreign companies and expand tax benefits to lure more international investment, while easing labor and environmental regulations so that local companies could boost their production. South Korea's plans are aimed at stabilizing the supply of 100 key materials and parts in semiconductors, display screens, automobiles and other major export sectors, where its companies have heavily relied on Japanese imports to produce finished products. "Our industries for materials, parts and equipment have been compared to a cormorant," said Sung, referring to how fishermen exploit the bird's behavior of spitting out the fish it snatches out from rivers, while explaining how South Korea's imports from Japan grew whenever its own exports increased.