Steve Hanke is called “father” of the Bulgarian Currency Board, he was awarded eight honorary doctorate degrees, three of them in Bulgaria. He was an economic advisor to President Petar Stoyanov, a senior economist under US President Ronald Reagan, and was an advisor to five foreign heads of state. In 2018, he was named one of the 25 most influential people in the world by World Trade Magazine. Where is Bulgaria in the "Misery Index according to Hanke" commented the professor himself on the air of "Wake up" on NOVA.
"Last year I researched 157 countries and Bulgaria was quite unhappy. It is ranked 117th. The situation is worst in Argentina, Venezuela and Lebanon. The best are China, Malta, Switzerland, Japan and Thailand. 'The Hanke Misery Index" takes the unemployment rate and I give it double weight. The other factor of misery is inflation, so we add that to double unemployment. We also add the interest rate on bank loans," Hanke explained.
"Looking at the current numbers for this year, Bulgaria's position will improve" According to him, the main reason for this behavior is the sharp drop in inflation. "I think that Bulgaria will rank better than in 2023,", the professor reported.
According to him, Bulgaria's entry into the Eurozone would be a complete disaster. "One of the reasons is the division between politicians and elites who insist on the Eurozone, and on the other hand the population of Bulgaria. Public opinion wants us to keep the leva and the currency board, because it works, it would be stupid to change it," he added.
"There is a distrust of politicians and a deep cynicism towards politics. Only about 30% of eligible voters are expected to vote in the next election. They vote for people they don't know – no one really voted for them. They insist on removing the leva and taking the euro", the professor believes.
"There is no use of the euro, because with the system of the Currency Board, which as you know I designed and helped create in 1997, the lev is really a clone of the euro. Why formally be trapped in the Eurozone and give up the formalities you have? The lev is the same as the euro”