Politicians should "speak up" a little bit in their speech if they really want to help stabilize public finances and for a better direction for the eurozone. This was commented by Lyubomir Karimanski, a member of the Governing Council of the BNB, in "The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov" on BNT, quoted by novini.bg.
According to him, politicians are exhausted enough, but they are on the move at the moment and should show cooler reason and more trust in all financiers and economists who can clearly and accurately provide arguments about the state of the country and how we should develop economically in the future.
According to Karimanski, we have focused only on one goal, without having a vision for the big economic policy in the future.
The expert also pointed out that from an economic point of view, all dynamic processes in geopolitics must be carefully monitored, because it determines the development of the economy, and in the country it is necessary to reduce and minimize the systemic risk associated with political risk and political stability. In the last five years, we have been observing the same thing - everyone is staring at the budget, without having a clearly outlined visionary program of what political goals a given cabinet is striving for, said Karimanski. According to him, everyone puts the budget at the forefront, and not what goals and where the state is going, which, according to him, is not being done.
Regarding the budget, Karimanski recalled the economic theory that in order to have price stability, fiscal and monetary policy need to go in the same direction and added that at the moment the feeling is that fiscal policy is somehow lagging behind or is indebted to both people and business. The country's economy should be driven by the synchronicity of fiscal and monetary policy. This is important to realize.
When we have a systemic risk that is minimized, a political risk that is avoided, then we can rely on the synchronicity between these two wings. But when one wing works at its maximum, as is monetary policy - we follow what the European Central Bank (ECB) does, we are a member of the Banking Union, banks work precisely and accurately enough, then we must do everything possible for the other wing to work as well, Karimanski pointed out. In this regard, he noted the importance of the fiscal principles that the state must build and comply with.
We cannot have fiscal principles with precise and clear fiscal rules in an economic policy, said Karimanski. He added that one of the principles that must be developed is for the efficiency of resources in the state. When we have a clear vision for the efficiency of resources in both the revenue and expenditure sides and work with the so-called. expenditure ceilings in each government, then it can become clear where the state is headed as a policy through the budget, said Karimanski.
When asked about the possibility of entering the eurozone from January 1, 2026, Karimanski's words made it clear that this is achievable.
We see that there are all kinds of prerequisites. From now on, everything is a matter of political will and the way in which the state's finances and fiscal policy can be structured, Karimanski pointed out.
The financier emphasized that we must listen very carefully to what is being said by the ECB and what the bank's president, Christine Lagarde, answered to a question from BTA a few days ago, and added that everything depends on politics. If we have to say that the Central Bank plus the banking system have done their job, now politicians must do theirs, Karimanski pointed out.
He also said that the banking system is prepared and ready to enter the eurozone. Financially, from the banking system side, we are stable and ready, from the fiscal side - monetary policy is clear, fiscal policy should be clearer, because it is currently blurred.
And he added that it is important that the budget does not use politically convenient information. It is important that when information is provided, be it from individual ministries, the influence of political suggestions is not allowed. Therefore, according to him, it is good to build a platform in which all economic and financial directors of the ministries would participate, and its head would be the leading director in the budget sphere at the Ministry of Finance.
We are all indebted in terms of the financial literacy of the population in Bulgaria, very large debtors at that, Karimanski also commented on a question about people's awareness of the eurozone.
Because if there are some who are "against" or "for", they can be "against" or "for" when they have sufficient knowledge and arguments. But sufficient knowledge on the subject is also based on the position of people who know things, Karimanski explained. Currently, critics of the eurozone are using people's ignorance to manipulate them, he said.
Asked what will happen to people's savings in levs upon joining the eurozone, Karimanski pointed out that these savings will be affected more by inflation than by the eurozone.
Let's not turn the eurozone into some huge sphere in which everyone somehow interacts from the center of the sphere, he said. Rather, the economic stability, the economic growth of the country and everything that is related to the overall integrity between the institutions is important, because without this integrity we will have no control, without this control we may allow speculation, and everything else, Karimanski pointed out.
According to him, the fixed exchange rate of the lev will not be allowed to change after joining the eurozone. I believe that just as the institutions are doing their job responsibly on the part of the BNB and the entire financial system, so too do the European bodies - the ECB and the EC - view this as something that is clear to them that is fixed, Karimanski pointed out.
Lyubomir Karimanski also commented that Bulgaria currently has a much bigger problem than the eurozone as a whole, and these are the macroeconomic imbalances in the country. Imagine - we are entering the eurozone, but what is our next goal, as a country, do we know, he asked.
Karimanski added that it is important to know how Bulgaria's competitiveness is improving and pointed out that competitiveness is based on being able to overcome macroeconomic imbalances and invest in the economy. Because I hear that they are massively wanting to use capital expenditures in the country as a buffer. This is not right for this to happen, this can only further stop the development of the country.