Bulgarian businesses want the Cabinet of right-of-centre political party GERB, which won Sunday’s general elections with a wider-than-expected majority of 39.7 per cent of the votes, to recover the suspended EU funds, maintain macroeconomic stability, implement reforms and create a positive business environment, according to a poll by Dnevnik.
 
Entrepreneurs, macroeconomists and industry organisation chiefs said each sector of the economy is plagued by its own specific problems triggered by the economic crisis or by a poor legislative framework but all have pinned their hopes on the new Cabinet.
 
Companies do not expect that the government will heal their imperfections but rather provide support by adequate and targeted measures.
 
The paltry budget resources and the heavy pressure on the budget should be no excuse for the new Cabinet to delay or scrap reforms, said Lachezar Bogdanov, macroeconomist with local think-tank Industry Watch.
 
Businesses also called for an update of the budget to mitigate the risk of a public finance deficit and limited resources for emergency stimulus measures and long-term policies.
 
Speaking to Reuters, Biser Boev, who the agency says is tipped by local media as the new economy minister, also advocated reforms and increased efficiency at the state administration.
 
Until May, Boev served as general director of Economedia, the publisher of Dnevnik daily and Capital weekly, and majority partner in Sofia Echo Media.
 
Foreign analysts and economists are almost unanimous in their expectations that the rapid formation of a new government and an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will send a very good message to investors in Bulgaria.
 
Experts welcomed the election results and the possibility for GERB to secure a clear majority with the Blue Coalition, which groups the Union of Democratic Forces, Democrats for Strong Bulgaria of ex-prime minister Ivan Kostov and some smaller parties.
 
"Going to the IMF will be seen as a positive move," said Timothy Ash, head of emerging European research at Royal Bank of Scotland in London. "Borissov remains an unknown quantity but, in the end, his government should be a coalition of fairly pragmatic people," he said, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
 
"A swift formation of a new government would undoubtedly be well received by investors," Danske Bank told Reuters.
 
Source: Dnevnik.bg