''The banking sector in Bulgaria is stabilised after the problems we had in 2014 and bankrupcy of the country's 4th-largest credit institution - Corporate Commercial Bank due to fraud and internal misappropriation, but bad loans remain a challenge according to reports by the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission'', the governor of Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), Dimitar Radev, said at the presentation of recommendations to Bulgaria in the framework of European Semester 2017, FOCUS News Agency reported.

''Only a week ago, a review of the financial sector was completed, which catalyses the independent external assessment of the banking sector, Radev said. “The European Commission has presented a written statement in which it fully agrees with the findings of the review", he added.

Bulgaria's central bank has been discussing measures to reduce the number of non-performing loans, which has been falling but is still a burden on the well-capitalized banking sector in the country, Dimitar Radev said.

The review of asset quality and the stress test carried out by the Central Bank last year in order to restore confidence in the sector helped banks better assess credit risks and curb bad loans, he added.