Goranov

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov told a press conference on Tuesday that in the worst-case scenario, the Bulgarian economy could shrink by three per cent in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"If the period of isolation continues for three months in total, our economy will recover by the end of 2021," Goranov said.

"There are many voices from business representatives about possible government action to mitigate the impact of the crisis. Most affected are shopping malls, restaurants, discos and bars. We will propose some quick measures in the context of the one-month emergency. They could alleviate the pressure on affected businesses.

The cabinet and the unions have agreed to adjust the supplementary standard for school and child health care so that healthcare professionals can receive higher salaries.

This was announced by CITUB leader Plamen Dimitrov after talks in the Council of Ministers with Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and Social Minister Denitsa Sacheva.

The Bulgarian lev is undervalued, Bulgaria's Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said, referring to econometric models for evaluating the exchange rates used by the IMF.

The International Monetary Fund will present the results of its regular mission to Bulgaria. Experts have been in the country since February 4, and traditionally, they have had a number of meetings with government representatives, BNB, business and non-governmental organizations.

After consultations with the political forces in parliament, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov stated that until its entry into the Eurozone Bulgaria will not change the exchange rate of the Bulgarian Lev which is now pegged to the Euro at EUR 1 to BGN 1.95583, BNR reported.

Bulgaria is expected to enter the euro zone waiting room by the end of April. This was announced on January 28 by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, who attended the annual meeting of the business with the government, organized by Capital newspaper, BNT reported.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov has announced that Bulgaria may receive an invitation to the Euro Area waiting room by the end of April next year. He made this prediction to reporters at the Council of Ministers after a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, which discussed Budget 2020.

Bulgaria has the potential to build between 7 and 10 new industrial zones like the one in Plovdiv, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev said during the 4th edition of Bulgaria's largest economic forum -"Industry 4.0". According to him, it was important to ease procedures for investors, BNR reported.

It is early to say what the priorities in the 2020 Budget will be, but it certainly includes the planned 10% increase in public administration salaries, as well as a double increase in teacher salaries. This was guaranteed by the Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov in the Council of Ministers after the end of the meeting, when he was asked about the priorities for next year.