President Plevneliev for CNN: Bulgaria Better Off than Greece

Business » FINANCE | May 27, 2012, Sunday // 16:57
Bulgaria: President Plevneliev for CNN: Bulgaria Better Off than Greece "Young Bulgarians do not have mountains of debt and will be free to decide their own priorities, as well as capable of funding them," President Rosen Plevneliev said in an interview for CNN. Photo by CNN

Bulgaria's president has told CNN his country is stable and in better financial shape than neighboring Greece despite high unemployment.

"Young Bulgarians are in a much different, more interesting and positive situation than young Greeks. Young Bulgarians do not have mountains of debt and will be free to decide their own priorities and will be capable of funding them," Rosen Plevneliev said in an interview for CNN.

The president conceded that "Bulgaria is not perfect" as unemployment is running high, reaching 11.5%, while the economy is expanding at a rate of 0.51%. Yet he made it clear he firmly believes the country is on the right track.

"The word "growth" is spelled all over the world and many politicians talk about it. My opinion is that growth can not be purchased. Growth can not be based on increasing mountains of debt at the cost of next generations. Growth can only be worked out with structural reforms and sustainable actions."

Asked to elaborate on his approval for austerity measures, President Plevneliev said:

"The right balance is never to forget that whatever you do, you have to spend what you have, not what you wish [to have]."

In his words Bulgaria is not among the countries, which need first to find their feet on solid ground and then seek growth and sustainability.

"We have been taking structural reforms, we have been working hard. As a regional development minister, I was not just a minister, I was a crisis manager. But we managed to achieve a very stable macroeconomic situation in Bulgaria and now we can talk about sustainable growth," Plevneliev told CNN.

The Bulgarian economy's growth slowed to 0.5% on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2012 over falling exports.

While the IMF recently projected gross domestic product growth of 0.8% in 2012 and 1.5% in 2013, the European Commission has sharply revised downwards its forecast for Bulgaria's economy, estimating it is to grow just 0.5% this year.

Earlier this year Bulgarian analysts and institutions unanimously cut their growth forecast for 2012 to just below 1.5% instead of the previously forecast 2-3%, citing slumping exports and stagnant domestic demand.

The central bank BNB estimated Bulgaria's economic growth to slow-down to 0.7% in 2012, citing the sovereign-debt crisis in the euro area.

Bulgaria's economy expanded by 1.7% in 2011.

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Tags: Bulgaria, greece, Rosen Plevneliev, president

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