What are the risks facing our economy in the coming months, can effective control over prices be exercised by the state and what the country's next budget should be. These topics were commented on by Nikolay Vassilev - former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Economy to bTV.
„Inflation for January is 0.6%, which for 36 years of transition, specifically for the months of January, winter, is probably one of the lowest ever. This is not the so-called doubling of prices that the haters were talking about“, said Vassilev.
According to him, the increase in prices for services is related to the increase in income. „For last year 11%, for previous years around 13% per year. In about 4 years, I guess, salaries have risen by over 50%“.
Regarding calls for the state to control prices, Vassilev was categorical: “My thesis has always been different. I am not a leftist or a populist. And I believe that in a market economy, the role of the state is not to interfere in pricing at all.“ According to him, “free competition in a market economy should regulate its prices, as it is everywhere in the world“.
He defined the increased inspections as “more of a PR exercise“. “The effect is minimal and almost useless. For me, this is more PR“, Vassilev also said. And he added: “The last time in my life when I heard a prime minister, finance minister and head of the National Revenue Agency comment on any topic, not something important, was the price of a mineral water in a Shumen store. Is this the national topic that prime ministers should be concerned with? For me, it is not.“
Regarding the eurozone, he said: “You will no longer ask me about problems with the eurozone, because that is in the past.“ According to him, Bulgarian citizens will be “proud and happy“ when they use their own currency in Europe.
Vassilev also commented on the lack of an adopted budget. “We do not have a budget, as in the last few years, often, it has nothing to do with the eurozone. This is a political issue,“ he said. According to him, the reason is the frequent change of governments: “For the last ones, if you draw a line from February to February in five years, it seems to me that this is the 11th government. That's why we don't have a budget.“
He made a recommendation to the new finance minister: “If he pleasantly surprises us and decides to introduce a budget without a deficit, with a surplus, you will see me supporting him every day.“ Otherwise, if a budget is introduced “in the spirit of the last five years“, Vassilev will be among those who will insist that this not happen.“
The former deputy prime minister criticized populist spending: “It is not true that by giving away money, you gain sympathy and support and voters, you win elections.“ He recalled the protests with the words: “For the first time I see protests that are not “give us even more money“, but the opposite.“ And he summarized their message as follows: “Stop taking loans at the expense of our children and giving them away for stupid expenses now.“
Regarding the draft composition of the government, Vassilev commented: “It looks positive. I don't see problematic individuals. I see a lot of people with experience.“ At the same time, he noted that a large part of the ministers are from the same political force.
According to him, it is not ruled out that a future coalition will be tested through the current configuration. “These are the most frequent comments that it is probably so and this is certainly what is intended“, said Nikolay Vassilev.