“The idea of pumping money from the budget into the economy is absurd. That is only going to boost inflation. Because of the expected lower GDP growth rate, or even possible decline, we need to restrict spending but investment expenditure should remain so the functioning economy does not take a hit,” economist Krassen Stanchev, founder of the Institute for Market Economics says.

He is categorically against any increase of the minimum wage because “that is something that is decided politically, but is paid for by businesses”. Bulgaria is moving away from the Eurozone and will most likely join it in 2026-2027. One of the reasons for this is that the country is failing to address corruption, which is one of the requirements the country has to meet, Krassen Stanchev said in an interview with BGNES news agency.