Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

External debt has increased by 2.3 billion Leva in past year of coronavirus pandemic

Photo: archive

A drop in export by 8% and in import by 10%, a rise in the unemployment rate by 170,000 lost jobs and a growth of the external debt by 2.3 billion Leva – this is the picture of the past year of coronavirus pandemic, said Radosvet Radev, chair of the Bulgarian Industrial Association in an interview for the BNR.

In his words the withholding of investments and the drop in consumption are worrying. Radosvet Radev also predicted cascading bankruptcies of companies after April when the moratorium on credits will be lifted.

According to Krassen Stanchev from the Institute for Market Economics, large fiscal reserves were accumulated which cushioned the blow. He added that almost 1.4 million people have not been included in any support scheme as the measures were accessible to no more than “10% of the economic entities”. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Israel investigates the death of the Bulgarian UN worker in Gaza

Bulgaria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev had a phone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar expressed condolences to the family of the Bulgarian who died in Gaza . Gideon Sa'ar..

published on 3/20/25 8:36 AM

Trade unions organize protest for decent wages in public sector

One of the two major trade unions in Bulgaria - the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), is organizing a protest under the motto "We want a visible increase in wages with Budget 2025. .   Trade unions: Additional..

published on 3/20/25 6:05 AM

The Netherlands, Italy and Spain are leading destinations for Bulgarian prospective students

Currently, the Netherlands remains the leading destination for Bulgarian prospective university students, followed by Italy, Spain, Austria and Belgium, reported the consultants from ''Integral'', which is the organizer of the World Education Forum. They..

published on 3/20/25 6:05 AM