Bulgarian consumers will continue to feel that prices are high as long as they approach European levels, while incomes remain significantly lower than those in Western Europe. This was commented on by the former chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission Dimitar Margaritov on bTV.
The topic of prices remains among the most sensitive for households, especially against the backdrop of the continuing rise in prices of a number of basic goods and services.
According to Margaritov, the problem cannot be solved solely through administrative control over prices. It is necessary to seek longer-term solutions related to production, competition and income.
His comment comes against the backdrop of analyses of food prices and measures that the state is taking to limit unfair practices along the chain from producer to end consumer.
Prices and incomes move at different speeds
One of the main problems facing Bulgarian consumers is the discrepancy between price levels and incomes.
Bulgaria is gradually approaching European price levels for a number of goods, but the purchasing power of households still lags behind that of richer member states.
This makes any new price increase particularly sensitive for people with lower and middle incomes.
The conversation also touched on the role of control institutions. Margaritov stressed the need for real control over the market, but also for measures that have a long-term effect.
Control does not solve everything
According to experts, administrative measures can limit certain abuses, but cannot solve the price problem on their own.
The Executive Director of “Active Consumers“ Bogomil Nikolov, who also participated in the discussion, noted that a number of management measures require time to yield results. {"fallbackMarkdown":"(bTV News)","reference":{"matched_text":"","prefix":null,"start_idx":2864,"end_idx":2881,"safe_urls":["https://btvnovinite.bg/predavania/tazi-sabota-i-nedelia/margaritov-vinagi-shte-imame-useshtaneto-che-ni-e-skapo-kogato-cenite-ni-sa-evropejskite-a-zaplatite-iztochnoevropejski.html"],"refs":[],"alt":"(bTV News)","prompt_text":null,"type":"grouped_webpages","status":"done","fallback_items":null,"style":null,"items":[{"title":"Margaritov: We will always have the feeling that we expensive when our prices are European and wages – Eastern European - bTV News","url":"https://btvnovinite.bg/predavania/tazi-sabota-i-nedelia/margaritov-vinagi-shte-imame-useshtaneto-che-ni-e-skapo-kogato-cenite-ni-sa-evropejskite-a-zaplatite-iztochnoevropejski.html","attribution":"bTV News","pub_date":null,"snippet":null,"thumbnail_url":"https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-1/gPgU q1phrYfuzAIbMaF2viITtbhqtWfrO5IgmtUyybdWYY4ULmaPj-QSNi2B-NBxJTB8413u3ISBqUsgDgpddv8kdk4bcjnXfB1me3n5gNg","attribution_segments" ;:null,"supporting_websites":[],"refs":[{"turn_index":2,"ref_type":"view","ref_index":0}],"hue":null,"attributions":null}],"error":null},"showLoginRequiredCard":false}
That is why, according to analysts, attention should be focused on competition, production, logistics and income, and not only on the final price in the store.
For consumers, however, the result is measured mostly in how much their daily basket costs.
And the question of whether incomes will be able to catch up with European prices remains one of the major economic problems facing Bulgaria.