SIMEON DJANKOV: IF WE DO NOT REFORM THE UNREFORMED STRUCTURES NOW, IT MIGHT BE TOO LATE IN THREE MONTHS’ TIME
29.11.2011
\"When we planned the 2012 budget three or four months ago, we planned it as a conservative budget. Our budget is already an optimistic one, and we do have cushions for we have calculated the budget at 1% growth\", said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov on bTV. Any talks about additional money are irrelevant for there is no money; money is such as it is, Djankov addressed the farmers.
We will not retreat as to BDZ, said Djankov. Asked what he would do after the 10th day of strike, the Deputy Prime Minister answered that \"BDZ will be gradually closed because there is nothing else we can do. A new company will be set up for Passenger Transport without the burdens of the currently existing one, and Cargo Transport will be privatized\". \"If we do not reform the unreformed structures now, it might be too late in three months\' time\", Minister Djankov said explicitly.
We will end this year with a smaller deficit, the Finance Minister also commented. Our country is third or forth in Europe concerning this indicator, he added. The Finance Minister announced that there was an increase in customs revenues by almost 12% or by BGN 769 million compared to last year. NRA collection has increased by almost 6% or by BGN 670 million. \"This money, however, will not be allocated to the protesters\", Djankov explained and added that half of the money is allocated for pensions. He said that pensions would not be frozen in Bulgaria.
\"A lot of bad things happened in the last month preconditioning the fiscal position not only in Bulgaria but across Europe as well. We are part of EU and as a small economy we are dependent on what is happening. Environment in Bulgaria changed abruptly for a month\", the Finance Minister explained. Germany and Italy already announced that they were anticipating a recession. We may not say that things will be good here, Simeon Djankov forecasted. The Finance Minister commented in this regard that a new concept of a fiscal union had emerged in the last month. \"Should such a union be established, Bulgaria will be among the eight members thereof. This comes to demonstrate that we are stable. We will not be affected by any economic and social shocks. Bulgaria is ready to be and will be one of the members of that fiscal union\", the minister said explicitly.