Bulgarian Government was experiencing difficulties in the public sector as far as helping the 2.3 million pensioners in the country was concerned, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said in Razgrad November 1.
Stanishev made his statemeng in response to a question whether the price increases in the country would have a negative effect on the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) authority, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported.

Stanishev took part in a pre-election meeting with members and supporters of the BSP and declared his official support for independent municipality mayor candidate Dencho Boyadjiev for the second round of the elections.
 
Stanishev said that Government had found the money for a 10 per cent rise in pensions from July 1, 2008 and for another 10 per cent from October 1, 2008. He added that 1 billion leva from the 2008 budget would be used for pensions.

The reduced corporate tax in 2007 helped raise budget earnings by more than 50 per cent, which made the pensions rise possible. In 2008 the Government will carry on with this policy – it will cut down on physical entities' income tax and other taxes as well. This will have a positive effect on the life of the pensioners and the poor, Stanishev said.
 
The salaries in the private sector rose by 20 per cent in 2007. However, those in the public sector did not, which created the tension, said Stanishev. According to him public sector salaries cannot rise as fast because they are connected to the budget.

Stanishev said the first year of EU membership was always hard. Bulgaria's first year as a member, however, was successful. Foreign investments reached 4.1 billion euro and expectations for 2008 are they would rise. Whereas in 2007 prices reached record levels worldwide, in 2008 they are expected to stabilise.