Regular IMF mission visits Bulgaria until 3 July

Measures have been taken to minimize the budget revenue underperformance and we believe that the risks are manageable, said Deputy Minister of Finance Lyudmila Elkova during the introductory meeting with the IMF team who are on a regular visit to Bulgaria. Deputy Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova added that an action plan had been devised proposing specific measures for improving budget revenue collection and reducing the administrative burden for businesses. The IMF mission is headed by Ms. Michelle Shannon and the experts will be in Bulgaria from 27 June to 3 July. They will be having meetings with the teams of the Ministry of Finance, the National Revenue Agency, the National Customs Agency and the Bulgarian National Bank.

Deputy Minister Elkova presented the short-term measures taken by the Government in the social area and for improving the business climate. She pointed out that the administrative and regulatory regimes and the charges would be reviewed and the introduction of more administrative e-services would be accelerated. Among the medium-term priorities, according to Ms. Elkova, are decreasing youth unemployment, a package of consumer protection laws, introduction of the Swiss rule for indexation of pensions in 2014.

The IMF mission head Ms. Michelle Shannon said that the main focus of their visit would be on the country's economic growth and the labour market development. She added that this mission was a preparatory one for the Article IV mission in the fall of this year.