Boyko Borisov has firmly set his eyes on the prime minister office. Photo by BGNES
The leader of Bulgaria's center-right opposition party GERB, which is expected to win the upcoming general elections, has called for the immediate signing of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to secure financial stability.
Boyko Borisov made this statement during the signing ceremony of a Stability Pact with the Confederation of the Employers and Industrialists.
"It will be good if the budget deficit this year stands at 2%. Bulgaria should immediately sign an agreement with IMF, which will stand as guarantee for its financial stability," Borisov, who is also mayor of the capital Sofia, said.
The two sides agreed that the country should require some financial assistance from the IMF to deal with the period of recession.
The European Union newcomer has already entered recession with its economy shrinking 5% from January to March and contracting 1.6% in the fourth quarter on a quarterly basis.
Bulgaria's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 3,5% in the first quarter of 2009 on an annual basis, the first time that the country's GDP marked a drop year-on-year since the financial and economic crisis in 1997.