BOZHIDAR DANEV: WE HAVE A ‘LACY’ BUDGET

“The 2013 budget distributes something which we do not know how to get. We are all talking how to distribute the money and nobody talks about those who generate the money, what should be done for them,” said Bozhidar Danev, Executive President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) on BNR. Nothing is being given to the economy which produces this income. Why isn’t anybody talking about how to assist the economy? We are dooming it to stagnation next year. There are no investments, jobs are being closed down - more than 400,000 in recent years and 93,000 in the last 12 months. The unemployment rate is increasing. This is the main problem. What should we do about the economy? Everybody is busy distributing the money made by others – this is a socialist approach.

To me, the increase of incomes roughly covers inflation. The new system introduced by Finance Minister Simeon Djankov makes much sense. But what are we doing for those generating that income? How shall we make the economy grow - this is the key problem.

The populist approach of both the opposition and the ruling party in the year prior to the parliamentary elections dooms our economy to stagnation. It is like a turtle - we do not know if it is moving. The State seems to have turned its back on the economy. There is no money for second- and third-class roads, there is not a single lev for the introduction of e-government and an e-cadastre. This means we cannot have projects next year. Let's not even talk about the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). Our budget is quite ‘lacy’, with many holes. These should be filled so that the budget would not be a budget of stagnation, but of economic growth.