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Bulgarian Tax Freedom Day 2012
05.03.2012 / Issue 87
20 April 2012 is the day when Bulgarians, figuratively speaking, stop working for the government and start working for themselves. This day is called Tax Freedom Day. In 2012 Bulgarians will need to work nearly four months only to pay their taxes and fees to the Government, thus reaching the budget’s revenue target for the year.
Fiscal Reserves Down BGN 5 Billion During the Crisis. Issuing Debt is Next
Petar Ganev / 10.05.2012 / Issue 88
Prior to the crisis, the country had sound public finances (budget surpluses) and over BGN 10 billion in reserves. Over the next three years the country accumulated more than BGN 5 billion in deficits and of course the fiscal reserves plunged to less than BGN 5 billion. Here is the simple story of the crisis – we addressed the problems by spending BGN 5 billion from our fiscal reserves...
Fiscal Rules: Literature Review, Implementation and Implications for Bulgaria
05.03.2012 / Issue 87
The Institute for Market Economics publishes a report on fiscal rules, the logic behind their implementation, and history of fiscal rules in several countries. The report also presents an overview of such rules in Bulgaria as well as suggestions for their improvement.
IME Started a New Project – Groundbreaking Innovative Financing of Training in a European Dimension (GIFTED)
30.03.2012
In January 2012 five European partners launched a new initiative - the GIFTED Project that aims to develop and validate - through financial stress testing - an innovative funding model based on the concept of a revolving fund that pools public and private resources, whose proceeds are then devoted to the funding of Adult Learning and Training.
Southern Europe Neglects Freedom and Is Being Downgraded
Petar Ganev / 05.03.2012 / Issue 87
The decision of “Standard & Poor’s” to downgrade the credit ratings of nine Eurozone countries normally led to a lot of reactions and comments. European leaders hurried to “question” the agency`s rightness and turned the issue into almost political discussion. In all of the statements out there some key words are used: “American agency”, “inappropriate moment”, “unclear criteria”, “incomprehensible”, “illogical”, etc.
IME Event: Jobs During Crisis - A Flexible Approach To Labor Market Regulations
09.05.2012 / Issue 88
On April 24th IME held a press conference under the title “Jobs During Crisis: A Flexible Approach To Labor Market Regulations”
IME Students Club & Library – Events and Photos (March – April, 2012)
10.05.2012 / Issue 88
Photos from various events of IME Students Club (500+ students) and IME & BMA Economic Library
The Mutation of Belene: A Beggar on Horseback
Krassen Stanchev* / 09.05.2012 / Issue 88
At first glance, the ugly caterpillar "Belene" has transformed into two beautiful butterflies – a steam-gas plant at the site and a new unit at NPP "Kozloduy". But these two butterflies are only painted on the ceiling of the imagination of the government. Much like the two previous governments, the current one seems to believe it has found something like an eternal engine: you start big projects, mobilize contracts, companies and funds, then shut them down because they are costly to the economy, and then start new similar projects all over again.