The development of the Bulgarian economy has similar issues and problems with the countries of Southeast Europe related to the integration into the EU and the global world. This was stated by Prof. Dr. Alexander Tasev at the opening of the International Scientific Conference on "Economic Development and Policies: Realities and Prospects". The authors of the report trace the development of the Bulgarian economy in the last 12 years and present 8 challenges. These are: its increasing dependence on the dynamics of the European economy; low, unsustainable and unbalanced economic growth; the critical low domestic and foreign investments and their prioritization on the non-tradable sector of the economy, contraction of corporate profits and disposable income for investing and weak credit activity in the non-financial sector. The BAS team of economists also added to these the decline in employment and the worsening of the sectoral structure of employment, the accumulation of significant liabilities in state-owned enterprises, municipalities and unreformed sectors with predominant state ownership, as well as the uncertainties surrounding Bulgaria joining the euro area.

The assets of investment funds operating in Bulgaria grew by an annual 10.6% to BGN 4.37 billion at the end of September, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said. Compared to the end of June, the assets of investment funds operating in the country were 1.9% lower at the end of September. The assets of resident investment funds increased 13.4% year-on-year to BGN 1.66 billion at the end of September, while the assets of non-resident funds rose by 8.9% to BGN 2.71 billion.

The Fund of Funds has started the procedure for the procurement of a ‘Portfolio guarantee with a loss ceiling’. The funds are under Operational Program Innovation and Competitiveness 2014-2020 (OPIC), co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). The purpose of the procedure is to select financial institutions to which a partial guarantee will be provided upon granting new, targeted loans to Bulgarian enterprises for nearly BGN 700 million. The funds will target both small and medium-sized enterprises and large companies from almost all sectors of the economy, with an emphasis on two strategic areas for the country - energy efficiency and innovation. About 60% of the resource will be earmarked for energy efficiency credits and just over 40% for innovation.

Software companies Fourth and HotShedules, which operate in the field of integrated workforce management and operating costs in the hotel and restaurant business, are merging. The two companies were acquired in July this year by the private equity fund Marlin Equity Partners, which now formally is merging their operations. The new company will retain the name Fourth Enterprises in the form of a holding group and will be the largest solution provider in its field. Fourth has an office of 130 people in Bulgaria and works in the country through the company Fourth Bulgaria, which for 2018 has BGN 9.3 million of revenue and BGN 323 thousand. The merged company will serve 7,000 customers with 120,000 locations worldwide, some of which include chains such as Hilton, Subway, Ihop, Applebees and others. In addition to Bulgaria, the new company has development centers in China, Australia, the United Kingdom and the UAE.

Power utility CEZ Distribution Bulgaria has completed two investment projects in Sofia worth a total of BGN 6.3 million. CEZ Distribution Bulgaria invested BGN 3.4 million in the reconstruction of Festivalna power substation and BGN 2.9 million in replacing 110 kV power line Zenit. Festivalna power substation ensures the power supply of 40,000 households, companies and institutions. CEZ Distribution Bulgaria operates the power grid in the Sofia region and parts of western and northern Bulgaria.

Bulgarian hydraulic equipment manufacturer M+S Hydraulic booked sales of BGN 9.6 million in October, exceeding its forecast for sales of BGN 9.3 million during the month. The company expects to generate a further BGN 7.8 million in sales in November. M+S Hydraulic pocketed sales of BGN 11.2 million and BGN 10 million in October and November 2018, respectively. The company reported accumulated sales of BGN 102.9 million in the January-October period of 2019, and a preliminary gross profit of BGN 13.6 million. In the first ten months of 2018, the company announced sales of BGN 106.3 million and a preliminary gross profit of BGN 15.3 million. M+S Hydraulic said at the end of 2018 that it expects its revenue in 2019 to be around BGN 124 million, same as in 2018. M+S Hydraulic is an affiliate of blue-chip diversified group Stara Planina Hold.

Unicredit Bulbank has sold bad loans to APS Holding and Balbec Capital for EUR 50 million, which are owed by small and medium-sized enterprises. With this deal for 2019, bad loan sales in Bulgaria are close to BGN 1.7 billion against an estimated BGN 2 billion. In the non-performing portfolio of UniCredit Bulbank there are only corporate loans, mainly to small and medium-sized enterprises. The package contains both secured and unsecured claims, with the initially proposed volume of EUR 80 million. The deal is centrally negotiated, with buyers being APS Holding, which has a debt collection unit in Bulgaria - APS Bulgaria SPLTD, and Balbec Capital, which is also a major European player on the market. Debt relief by transferring them to specialist debt collection companies is a strategy of the Italian banking group that aims to get rid of non-performing activities and at the same time to improve its efficiency in lending. The specific deal for the portfolio of EUR 50 million is expected to be reflected in the financial results of UniCredit Bulbank in the fourth quarter of this year.

The landmark trade agreement between the European Union and Singapore, which removes nearly all Customs duties between the two jurisdictions, comes into force today. The reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers under the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) provides Singapore companies with greater market access to all EU member states. It also contains rules on trade and sustainable development, including the protection of labour rights and the environment. The experiences gained from the EU-Singapore FTA will also help guide subsequent rounds of discussions for a trade pact between the EU and Asean, he added. The agreement is the first between the EU and an Asean member state. The EU is Singapore's third-largest goods trading partner, and the Republic is the EU's largest goods trading partner in Asean. Bilateral trade in goods between the two jurisdictions exceeded USD 114 billion last year, of which $49 billion was exports from Singapore. The EU is also Singapore's largest services trading partner. Bilateral trade in services in 2017 exceeded USD 79 billion.

The U.S. Federal Reserve approved a merger between BB&T Corp and SunTrust Banks Inc, sealing the biggest tie-up of banks since the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. Analysts have said such a tie-up has been made possible by regulatory easing under the administration of President Donald Trump, which has encouraged banking regulators to take a more relaxed approach to approving mergers, bank applications and enforcement of post-crisis rules. The Fed said its approval was conditioned on several actions, including that BB&T must divest 30 branches and more than $2.4 billion in deposits to mitigate the competitive effects of the merger. SunTrust must also satisfy the terms of a newly-issued consent order after the Fed found it had misled certain business customers regarding the operation and billing for some products. In a statement, the companies said they were pleased to have received regulatory approval.

China revised up its nominal 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) by 2.1% to 91.93 trillion yuan ($13.08 trillion), keeping it on track to achieving its goal of doubling the size of its economy by 2020 from 2010. The revisions showed that the services sector contributed more to GDP in 2018 than the original data had indicated, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. The change in the size of 2018 GDP will not significantly influence the calculation for the 2019 growth rate, the statistics bureau said. The world’s second-biggest economy is growing at its slowest pace in almost three decades, pressured in part by a trade war with the United States. China routinely revises its annual GDP data. Days before GDP data for 2018 was released in January, the statistics bureau cut its final 2017 growth figure to 6.8% from 6.9%. China’s fourth National Economic Census, released on Wednesday, included “richer” data points that showed more business entities and a bigger total asset base in 2018 than assumed under earlier GDP estimates, Li Xiaochao, deputy head of the statistics bureau, said. Revisions to historical GDP figures will also be made, Li added.