Crisis-Hit Bulgaria to Return to the Polls on October 5

Bulgarians will return to the polls for snap elections in October, the main political parties announced on Friday, after months of political crisis.

Sergey Stanishev, the leader of the ruling Socialist party, said after meetings with opposition parties that the poll will likely take place on October 5, although the date has yet to be approved by the country's president.

The EU's poorest country has faced renewed political instability since Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski's year-old government lost the backing of a key ally earlier this month.

Oresharski, whose government is the second to collapse in less than 18 months, is expected to resign in the coming weeks.

He only took office in May 2013 but has faced months of protests over his cabinet's apparently close links with oligarchs.

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Earlier in June, his government lost the backing of the Turkish minority MRF party and even Oresharski's main supporters, the Socialists, have called for him to step down.

As well as the country's political crisis, the Bulgarian Central Bank said on Friday there had been a systemic attempt to destabilise the country's banking system, after internet rumours claimed that First Investment Bank -- the third-largest in the country -- was in financial difficulty.

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The rumours provoked a panic with long lines of anxious customers queueing up to get into branches of the bank in the capital Sofia. The central bank said the rumours were false.

The ratings agency Standard and Poor's recently cut its outlook for the country's long-term debt to "BBB-", saying that continuing political instability in the country was frustrating attempts to crack down on corruption and encourage investments in infrastructure.