03.09.2009

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Simeon Djankov took part in the informal meeting of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council /ECOFIN/ held in Brussels on 2 September.

The participants in the meeting discussed the common position of the Finance Ministers and the Governors of EU central banks for the forthcoming meeting of G-20 to be held in London on 4-5 September. The Council defined the development of the European economy after the shocks of the global financial and economic crisis as \"cautious optimism\". One of the reasons is that there is still uncertainty whether the EU Member States registering an upsurge have a sustainable growth or the latter is in consequence of the fiscal incentives. The Ministers projected that in the next budget year most EU countries would have a deficit exceeding 3%.

At a press conference with Bulgarian and foreign journalists after the meeting the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mr. Simeon Djankov said that he expected Bulgaria to experience another 4-5 hard months, with the crisis reaching its bottom in November. \"January will be our month of \"cautious optimism\" and in the spring of 2010 we are to see positive signs for the Bulgarian economy\", said the Minister. He shared that his European counterparts have expressed their good impressions from the quick measures in the fiscal policy area taken by the new government as well as from the broad public support for those actions.

The Minister denied the assertions that Bulgaria would ask IMF for a loan. In regard to Bulgaria\'s accession to the Euro-area the Deputy Prime Minister expressed his hope that the process would be accelerated following the quick and efficient changes undertaken by the government.