Bulgaria is one step ahead on its way to the Eurozone, but it is not sufficiently well prepared and will probably not meet the inflation criterion until 2026.
This is what he told "Focus“ the teacher at UNSS and at the Higher School of Insurance and Finance Prof. Boyan Durankev.
The ECB's next convergent report, published on June 26 and measuring how candidate countries for eurozone membership fulfill the criteria, applies to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden as well. "This is the last train of 6 countries moving towards the euro, of course each of the passengers at a different speed.“
According to the data of the report, the 6 countries are united by the fact that inflation is above the reference value, which is the main economic obstacle for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe on their way to the euro. "As for the other criteria – about the compatibility of the national legislation with the treaties and the statute, taking into account its conditions and interpretations, the only country in which this thing is fulfilled is Bulgaria,” he explained.
The reasons for the high inflation in Bulgaria, according to the economist, are several, one of which is the natural equalization of the price level in the countries of the European Union. The second thing that raises the prices of goods in Bulgaria is the corporate Bulgarian greed, which constantly increases the prices. And the third thing, this is reckless spending by Bulgarians on household goods and investing money in real estate, i.e. demand is still very strong and intense in Bulgaria, which leads to an increase in inflation. "It is obvious that these will be factors that will keep us out of the Eurozone this year and next year.“
According to Prof. Durankev, Bulgaria lacks a good manager to lead the people and restore stability in the country. "There is currently no good product on the political market, we see banal personalities – people who are suspicious to most voters known as corrupt. Not to comment on the 60 million that was given by a gambling boss to heads of state, or drawers, or residences, etc. It's obvious that we're in this vicious circle right now and things aren't going well,” concluded the economist and teacher at UNSS and at the Higher School of Insurance and Finance Prof. Boyan Durankev.