The increase in power prices will increase the cost of living in Bulgaria after a series of gradual decreases in 2013.

In the winter months of 2014, a family with two children will need around BGN 2280, according to forecasts of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), as cited by the BGNES news agency.

The cost of living of a 4-member household will increase by around BGN 40 a month until the end of the winter.

The increase in power rates is expected to trigger a new increase in prices of basic goods and services.

As a result, the cost of living per household member will amount to BGN 570 in the winter months.

According to CITUB experts, the state is not doing enough to help the socially underprivileged, taking into account that aid for heating bills was paid to over 251 000 people in the winter of 2013, or only 16% of the total of people living below the poverty line.