The Cabinet is considering the setting up of a price control committee to deal with any confusion stemming from Bulgaria's EU entry, Economy and Energy Minister Roumen Ovcharov said.

Ovcharov met on January 4 members of KNSB labour union to discuss changes related to the union membership, Focus news agency reported.

Such committee was needed to control the manner in which price hikes were implemented, Ovcharov said.

During 2006 Bulgarian economy witnessed record development, said Ovcharov. Bulgaria ranked 49th in business efficiency indices, said he.

In 2006 the country registered a 6.7 per cent GDP actual growth rate. Another positive tendency was the fact that export exceeded import, said Ovcharov.

Some of the challenges Bulgaria faced now that it was part of the EU were related to energy, investment in qualified labour hand and management of state property, he said.

One of the manners to continue the positive developments was investment in higher technologies and better energy efficiency, said Ovcharov.