17.12.2011

According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov Bulgaria is financially and economically stable and this is the event of 2011. The most important thing from now on is the question what would be the engines of economic growth, he said in the \"Godinata\" programme on Darik radio. From a macroeconomic point of view, our country is not in a crisis because it records economic growth for a sixth quarter in a row and there will be economic growth next year, too, the Deputy Prime Minister projected. The current situation in Europe is not a crisis of financial and economic confidence but of the ability of European politicians to jointly take meaningful decisions, said the Finance Minister.

We must help both ourselves and Europe by saying that we all should be financially disciplined. However, the discussion on how to achieve economic growth thereafter is still pending. Bulgaria will not block the common efforts to address the crisis in Europe because such behaviour would not be a pro-European one, pointed out the Finance Minister. Our country, however, will continue to insist on the Commission making concessions as to national cofinancing under EU projects as well as the share of the latter being halved to 10 % for countries with sound fiscal policy.

We do not think that Bulgaria should contribute additional funds to the IMF as part of the decisions to restore confidence of international markets, announced a week ago. Such funding for our country is not a priority, the Finance Minister pointed out.

Simeon Djankov assured that certainty in the field of tax policy would be maintained in the coming year, too. So far, revenue agencies have collected by BGN 1,5 billion more than in 2010. Out of them, collected excise duties on alcohol are by 90% more compared to the previous year and the control there is much tighter. Collected excise duties and VAT on tobacco products are by around 40% more, and collection of excise duties on fuels has increased by around 9% compared to the previous year. This means that while keeping taxes the same until 2013, we will increase revenue collection by around BGN 2,5 billion, summarised Minister Djankov.

Major reforms are made at the beginning of the mandate of any government, so the healthcare reform, for example, can hardly take place by the end of the current mandate, said the Deputy Prime Minister. 

All civil servants in the \"power\" institutions should pay their social security and health insurance contributions and such analysis has already been submitted to the Prime Minister. Employees\' remuneration will be completely compensated, assured Simeon Djankov.