Bulgaria's 2000 national budget will not be affected by the US dollar rally against the euro, Finance Minister Mouravei Radev told on Thursday. On the domestic market, the exchange rate has reached BGN 2.10 to 2.20 for one dollar, which is a record high level since the introduction of the currency board arrangement and the pegging of the Bulgarian lev to the Deutsche mark in the summer of 1997. According to Radev, the high exchange rate of the greenback will not put too much pressure on the national budget, because the Government is expecting a considerable hard-currency budget surplus. If, however, the US currency continues to appreciate in the following years, budgetary measures will have to be taken. In future, the trend may lead to a setback: there can be less opportunities for interest-free expenses, and thus the financing of budgetary activities may be limited, Radev said. Before year's end, Bulgaria will be paying one major sum of USD 145 million as an interest payment for the external debt, the Minister said. A considerable part of the money has been secured in US dollars, and so Bulgaria will not have to buy foreign currency. The Government is not planning to issue additional Brady bonds for the repayment of the foreign debt, Radev said. The depreciation of Bulgarian Government securities by 0.02-0.03 US dollars is not due to political instability. The reason is, rather, that certain big investment banks have created the impression that Bulgaria is going to make a debt swap