The consumer crisis and the worsening economic situation in the country have direct consequences for the change in Bulgarians' attitudes towards the government, according to sociology expert, Kolio Kolev.

Kolev, who is the Director of the "Median" agency, presented Sunday the results from a poll conducted in the beginning of March, 2011.

Data from the poll shows that only 8% of Bulgarians have managed to maintain their living standard while 44% have drastically reduced their expenses. 52% say they believe they must restrict expenses and only 13% are optimistic about spending.

From April 2010, until now, people who count on an improvement of the economic situation are down to 10% from 17%; while the pessimists are up – from 42% to 52%.

According to the poll, 12% of all households in the country have two or more unemployed members while nearly 27% have one. In March 2007, in 73% of the households all members were employed compared to 61% in March, 2011. The share of those who have difficulties paying off loans is up from 62% to 84% for the same period, according to "Mediana" data.

54% say they are disappointed by the cabinet of the center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, compared to 14% in September 2009.

Since December 2010, until now, voters' support for GERB is down by 4.3% - from 27.9% to 23.6% with the majority of the respondents saying they will not vote in the next elections.

The largest collapse in politicians' ratings is for Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov - from 47 points down to 30. At the other end is the Bulgarian EU Commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva, now number one among Bulgarian politicians with 58% approval (from 57%). Bulgarian President, Georgi Parvanov, is second, despite his approval falling down from 51% to 48%, beating Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, whose rating is down to 42% from 52%.

The approval of Bulgaria's first EU Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, is down from 44% to 40% while the approval for the leader of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and former PM, Sergey Stanishev is down from 25% to 23%.

Tsvetanov is again at the ratings' tale among ministers, while Regional Minister, Rosen Plevneliev, maintains his first position with 44%, unchanged since December, 2010. The approval of Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov is also up – from 34% to 38%, so is the one of Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov - from 34% to 36%.

About 12% of those who report drastic budget restrictions are supporters of GERB, while from those whose budget did not change 40% support GERB.

The poll further shows that if elections were to be held now, GERB and the far-right, nationalist Ataka party would fail to collect enough votes to form parliamentary majority.

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