The latest round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) begins with the public opinion sharply divided on two key issues, a survey conducted from 6 to 13 October, 2001 by the agency `Alpha research`, published by Dnevnik Daily shows. More than half of the respondents (51%) think the conditions IMF wants to impose on Bulgaria are unacceptable. 21% believe that during the negotiations the two sides enjoy equal rights. Only 6% of the respondents think that it is the Bulgarian government that imposes unacceptable terms on the IMF. As a result of this the majority of Bulgarians (50%) believe that the government must uphold its positions even if this means not signing an agreement. The opposite opinion – that an agreement with IMF must be signed at all costs – is shared by 30% of the respondents. The respondents in the survey were not only people whose income will be directly affected by measures such as the rise in electricity and central heating. Some of them were `economically active` people who could change the speed of the economic reforms. Private owners and farmers as well as freelancers are the social groups who want the government to insist on introducing measures that would lead to economic growth. For the moment the majority of Bulgarians (47%) are convinced that the Bulgarian team is well prepared for the negotiations with the IMF. Withdrawal of the initially announced positions, however, will turn the economic team and the government into a target for social discontent, experts commented.

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