The Currency Board is a good decision, but just for a limited period of time, Professor Ivan Angelov from the Economy Institute with the Bulgarian Academy of Science said.

According to him it is highly likely that numerous crises will follow the latest blows to Argentine's crippled economy, unless governments start considering ways of ending operations in the Currency Board system. He even predicted that if the Bulgarian lev is kept pegged to the Deutsche mark for another six years and the Cabinet is denied the chance to carry out flexible fiscal policy the people will be forced to take to the streets.

Professor Angelov suggested that a working group of independent experts be formed. The group must not include representatives of the Cabinet and the National Bank, since the maintenance of the Currency Board system is in their interest. The working group will assess the current results and the future consequences of the Currency Board's operations in Bulgaria and will make concrete suggestions to the President, the Cabinet and the Parliament no later than April or May, 2002.

This opinion was not shared by a representative of the Economic Parliamentary Committee. "Bulgaria will certainly continue operating in the Currency Board mode till its entry in the European Union," Valeri Dimitrov, chairman of the Committee, said. He expressed the view that the country must adopt the euro currency even before its factual eurointegration.

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