P.M. BRIEFING : Private Bank Slated in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria —  Businessmen in reform-minded Bulgaria have decided to set up the country’s first private bank, the ruling Socialist Party newspaper Douma said today.

The bank will have capital of 10 million leva ($3.3 million U.S.) and will offer low-interest loans to stimulate private enterprise, the paper said.

It said the decision to found the as yet unnamed bank was made Sunday by Bulgaria’s private businessmen’s association, the Citizens’ Union for Economic Initiative.

The association set the price of the bank’s shares, which foreigners will be permitted to buy, at 1,000 leva ($330) each, it added.

Bulgaria, like other East European countries, has been introducing free market mechanisms to replace a rigid centrally planned economy since reformists ousted hard-line communist leader Todor Zhivkov last November.