Bulgaria's Retail Sales Surge as EU Faces Decline
Retail sales across the European Union showed a decline in December, with both the eurozone and the EU reporting decreases
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has confirmed earlier information and lowered the ratings of nine eurozone member countries, including France.
All euro zone states have their outlook also moved to negative, except Germany and Slovakia.
France has had its credit rating downgraded from AAA to AA+, a move that had been feared for months, but had been dismissed by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Two of the other largest EU economies had their ratings also reduced: Italy from A to BBB+, Spain from AA- to A.
Austria also experienced, like France, a downgrade from the highest AAA rating to AA+.
The other countries with reduced ratings are Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia.
EU national and European-level leaders, including Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn have dismissed the announcement as "untimely."
At the same, Standard & Poor's argued that in the past months the EU and eurozone member countries have not done enough to tackle the debt crisis.
Bulgaria has the lowest minimum wage among the European Union member states as of January 2025, standing at 551 euros
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Economists have urged Bulgaria’s leadership to submit an application to the European Commission and the European Central Bank for an extraordinary convergence report on joining the eurozone
Representatives of Bulgaria’s ruling coalition have once again highlighted a significant deficit in the state budget, with Stanislav Balabanov from "There Is Such a People" (TISP) stating that 2025 will be a transitional year regarding the eurozone
Valeri Belchev, former acting Minister of Finance, recently expressed strong concerns about Bulgaria's financial management, particularly focusing on the lack of proper budget management tools
Kalin Hristov, former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank and former finance minister, expressed concern over the public discourse on key economic issues
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