May 11, Tuesday

THE HOME SCENE

In a "Troud" interview, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior
Minister Tsvetan Tsvetan dismisses allegations about a rift
between Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and himself following his
topping the approval ratings ranking. Tsvetanov says that the
rumours aim to cause a rift between the Prime Minister and the
Interior Minister. Tsvetanov goes on to say that he would not
have achieved anything without Borissov's support and without
the political will of the government to fight organized crime
and corruption. "We are like communicating vessels," explains
Tsvetanov. He says that there will be more police operations
targeting economic crime and local authorities. The Interior
Minister says that he has submitted a report to the Prime
Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov on how to improve
the activities of the Interior Ministry and the State Agency for
National Security in order to increase budget revenues. He also
says that several magistrates are being investigated.

***

"Troud" reports that after a meeting of its leadership on
Monday, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) has suggested that
a new model of control system should be put in place. The aim is
to put a stop to all those that are leeching off the budget,
said UDF leader Martin Dimitrov. Dimitrov's party suggests that
an internal control and
audit commission be set up with the Council of Ministers which
will approve the appointments and dismissals of auditors. The
UDF has also proposed changes to the National Audit Office,
whereby scrapping the Office's collective leadership,
representing parties on a quota principle.

***

"Troud" writes that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) will
move for a vote of no-confidence against the government within a
month. MP Anton Koutev said Monday that by mid-June at the
latest the BSP will be moving for a no-confidence vote against
the government over its economic policy, the country's financial
stability and its inefficient anti-crisis measures. Koutev
explains that the vote of no-confidence is topping the BSP
agenda, after the party received feedback that a significant
portion of GERB voters have been disappointed with the methods
of government.


ECONOMY


"Sega" frontpages that the government has encroached on the
fiscal reserve.
Bulgaria's fiscal reserve will drop to 4.5 billion leva at the
end of the year from the current 6.4 billion leva under a
revision bill of the budget, tabled by the government. Under the
2010 Budget Act, the country fiscal reserve cannot be lower
than 6.3 billion leva. Initially, the hole in the budget had to
be plugged by issuing bonds, as the government's anti-crisis
plan envisaged. However, it has become clear that the shortfall
will be made up by decreasing the fiscal reserve by some 2
billion leva.

***

"Trade Shrinks 14.1% in March," reports "Troud". Preliminary
figures of the National Statistical Institute show that turnover
in trade shrank 14.1 per cent in March from a year earlier.
Retail trade reported a 11.6 per cent drop in all composite
groups. The reduction was negligible in the retail of food,
beverages and tobacco at 0.5 per cent and in the retail of
textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods in specialized
stores at 4.4 per cent. In wholesale trade except a reduction of
12.6 per cent was caused by the drop in all groups. The drop
in wholesale and retail trade and in the
repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles still was substantial
at 35.6 per cent.

***

In a "Novinar" interview, Vassil Tonchev of the Sova Harris
polling agency, says that the business has borne the brunt of
the crisis. Tonchev recommends that the government take
advantage and push through with the unpopular measures that need
to be put in place. The truth is that everybody should tighten
their belts in order to have a balanced budget. So far the brunt
has been borne by the private sector and those employed in the
small and medium-sized businesses. Tonchev calls on all members
of the public to cut on expenses and do their share.


BULGARIA-EU


"Troud" highlights that the euro zone and the International
Monetary Fund have vowed to extend 750 billion euro to bail out
the most heavily indebted European countries.


Interviewed by "24 Chassa", Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov
spoke of the decisions of the EU finance ministers in Brussels.
Djankov said that for the first time since the introduction of
the euro, the euro area members and the non-euro Member States
have jointly drawn up and approved an agreement on a
comprehensive package of measures to preserve financial
stability in Europe, including a European Financial
Stabilisation mechanism with a total volume of up to 500,000
million euro. According to him, the aim of this move was to
prove that the EU maintains a joint financial policy and that
the euro is backed by all EU Member States.

***

"Troud" runs a commentary that the euro crisis has robbed
Bulgaria of its national priority. The attack on the euro on the
international markets has been successfully deflected so far.
However, it is a dangerous delusion to claim that the storms in
the euro zone would pass Bulgaria. The lev is pegged to the euro
and a weak euro means a weak lev. It is good for the exports as
Bulgarian goods are becoming cheaper. Last week Europe saw the
ghost of a second financial crisis which could turn around this
year's projected feeble economic growth in the European Union.
The downturn will lead to shrinking demand across Europe and to
fewer exports for Bulgaria. In turn, the shrinking demand would
lead to a drop in production and would increase unemployment.
The siege on the euro zone has put off its enlargement
indefinitely and thus the Bulgarian government is losing its
main priority, to join the euro zone.

***

In a "Telegraph" interview, Peter Ganev of the Institute for
Market Economics
dispels people's fears about their savings in euro. In his
words, the dangers for
the common European currency lie in the lack of discipline. The
rule not to overspend your means had been neglected for a long
time. Almost all European countries have run large deficits,
which have become chronic. According to Ganev, a
dissolution of the euro zone in the short run is impossible. The
key issues are how to spend sensibly, how to put in place a
mechanism for control of spending and how to punish those that
overspend.

***

"24 Chassa" quotes Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as saying that
Bulgaria would ask the European Union for 1 billion euro to
rehabilitate its roads and improve its infrastructure.
Addressing the 400 participants in an international conference
for the Danube Region, Borissov ranked road improvements among
the country's priorities as human lives are at stake. According
to the Prime Minister, the 1 million euro that the Bulgarian
government is asking is a modest amount compared to 500 billion
euro allocated in support of the euro zone.

BTA