Do it our way, Bulgarian President says
Bulgaria could work as an example for debt-wracked Greece, the country’s new President Rosen Plevneliev has said.
?In 10 years, Bulgaria’s total debt went from 100 percent of GDP down to 16 percent. At the same time, Greece’s soared from 100 percent to 170 percent,? Plevneliev said in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland published Monday.
The Bulgarian president praised the Balkan country’s bold economic reforms, including privatizations and state sector layoffs.
?We made many privatizations in a very short period of time. We had 100 thousand people laid off in the construction sector and another 15 thousand in the public sector,? Plevneliev said.
Bulgaria, the poorest European Union member in terms of economic output per capita, won?t take part in international bailout packages for Greece and other indebted euro-area states.
In the interview, Plevneliev also praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ?culture of stability? which, he said, should be adopted by other members of the EU, adding that German policies will lead to a stronger Europe.
