in india in a cross - country setting let me begin by providing a brief historical context for the establishment of the dicgc. the idea of deposit insurance was shaped by intermittent bank failures between 1948 and 1960. a deposit insurance act was promulgated by parliament in 1961 to set up the deposit insurance corporation ( dic ), a wholly owned subsidiary of the reserve bank of india ( rbi ), the country's central bank. it was merged with the credit guarantee corporation of india and renamed as the deposit insurance and credit guarantee corporation ( dicgc ) on july 15, 1978 with the mandate of " insurance of 1 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities and for other matters connected therewith or incidental thereto ". iii. mandate from its very inception, therefore, the corporation was envisaged as a paybox plus1 institution. the credit guarantee function was discontinued in april 2003 and deposit insurance became and remains the principal function of the corporation. the resolution function resides with the rbi as the regulator of the financial sector. currently, the paybox plus mandate is restricted to the provision of financial support in case of the mergers. more recently, however, this mandate has been strengthened with amendments to the dicgc act in august 2021 which provides for up - front payouts within stipulated timelines. this provision is unique among deposit insurers. the corporation is now liable to make payment to depositors of a bank facing solvency stress up to the deposit insurance limit within 90 days of the bank being placed under regulatory directions that restrict it from discharging its liabilities, i. e., even before liquidation and amalgamation. the insured bank has to submit the depositors list within 45 days. the corporation has to get the genuineness and authenticity of the claims verified within 30 days and pay the depositors who have submitted their willingness to receive the same within the next 15 days. in case the rbi finds it expedient to bring a scheme of amalgamation / compromise or arrangement / reconstruction, the liability of the corporation will get extended by a further period of 90 days. globally too, the mandates of dis have expanded significantly, with the share of paybox 2 entities shrinking. by 2023, it was down to 17 per cent. increasingly, dis have been vested with additional responsibilities, including for financing and resolution, in recognition of their crucial role as participants in the national financial safety net. consequently, the share of dis

that we have to keep our reputation as institutions with national responsibility, holding as our priority the long - term economic interests of the people and of the state. hence, the fundamental logic of the so very important ( and very strictly adhered to throughout the eu ) principle of national central bank independence and the need to provide independent analyses and information to the general public. in this sense, we, at the bnb, just as we have done so far, will always support an economic policy in bulgaria that does not threaten long - term economic interests at the cost of achieving quick economic effects – such as the policy of continuing structural reforms, enhancing the efficiency of institutions and improving the general environment for doing business in this country. the bnb traditionally supports conservative fiscal policy owing to which bulgaria today demonstrates excellent fiscal indicators and given the stable banking system we have reasons to expect that our new issue of euro - denominated bulgarian global bonds will be well received. we would also welcome efforts at speeding up privatization and active concessioning – inasmuch as they would not only strengthen our country ’ s fiscal position, but would also improve the long - term competitiveness of the bulgarian economy. we, however, cannot be indifferent to any ungrounded economic experiments whatsoever. at the same time, the range of working solutions for bulgaria ’ s economic prosperity must also take into account the analysis of the comparative advantages of the bulgarian economy in a global context. in fact, it is exactly the current crisis that has highlighted and provided empirical evidence of the resilience of bulgaria ’ s economy. allow me to recall that before the crisis many argued that the currency board in bulgaria was restraining the economy ’ s flexibility and that the high current account deficit ( above 1 / 4 of gdp in 2007 ) was a dreadful “ imbalance ” that could in no way be funded in the event of capital flight from the country. to the surprise of many institutions and experts, a great part of them of proven experience and repute, bnb ’ s gross international foreign exchange reserves increased from bgn 24. 9 billion as at the end of 2008 to bgn 26. 1 billion at the end of 2011. presently the lev is more than 150 % covered with bnb ’ s international foreign exchange reserves of the highest quality ( not even taking into account the government ’ s deposit ). in short, for fifteen years now businesses and citizens have benefited from the predictability and stability resulting from the fixed exchange bis central bankers ’ speeches rate and the