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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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Britain is to allow private lenders to swap insecure assets for government-issued bonds in an attempt to restore confidence in the banking system. The initial offer, courtesy of the Bank of England, is estimated to reach approximately $100 billion; another offer of similar size may be on the road if the first turns out to be insufficient.

The idea isn't to make possible for the banks to offer cheaper credits to the buyers; it's rather to save the private lenders from what may turn out to be the worst financial crisis in Britain for a generation. They will benefit from government-backed bonds maturing within one year, with a possibility of an extension for up to three years.

The Bank of England has been under increasing pressure from several directions during the last year; critiques have pointed out that the British central bank is doing little if anything to alleviate the sufferings of the financial system, unlike its counterparts in continental Europe or in North America, which injected so far hundreds of billions. Another element that explains the incoming intervention of the Bank of England is the suffering popularity of the Prime Minister Gordon Brown. After a decade under Blair's peaceful government, the new Prime Minister looks increasingly under pressure to show leadership and 'do something'.

In the Britain's context, it's necessary to point out that many lenders won't benefit from the proposed package. The so-called 'building societies', or smaller mutual saving societies, that account for up to the half of all residential credits, won't benefit directly from the 'golden rain'; the hopes are, however, that they will benefit indirectly from the general improvement within the financial system. It remains to be seen whether the massive intervention won't be too little too late, at least for some of them.

The current financial crisis in Britain will have some repercussions going far beyond the English Channel; a significant part of oversees properties bought by British nationals are financed by British banks. Britain is a country with significant in- and outward migration, and most emigrants, people that are moving out, are going to a handful of Mediterranean and surrounding countries. The effects of the British crisis, therefore, may come from some unexpected directions.

United Kingdom profile:

• Area: 244,820 sq km
• Population: 61 million (July 2008 est.).
• Population growth rate: 0.3% (2008 est.).
• Net migration rate: 2.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.).
• Total fertility rate: 1.66 children born/woman (2008 est.).
• Life expectancy at birth: 78.85 years.
• GDP per capita: Purchasing power parity $35,300 (2007 est.).
• Unemployment rate: 5.4% (2007 est.).
• Population below poverty line: 14% (2006 est.).
• Main trading partners: US, EU countries, and China.
• Internet users: 40.3 million (2007 est.)

(Source: CIA World Factbook 2008; Reuters)

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