A new phase in the development of Bulgaria is to begin, Prime Minister and Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Sergei Stanishev said at the opening of BSP’s supreme council meeting.

BSP approved updates to its social and economic programme during the April 14 meeting, Dnevnik daily reported.

Ministers, members of Parliament and local authority representatives from BSP attended the summit. They learned more about BSP’s members of European Parliament (MEP) upcoming electoral campaign and the party’s development plans.

Economy and Energy Minister Roumen Ovcharov and Labour and Social Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova worked on policy updates.

Ovcharov said that the new programme is achievable and realistic.

The new programme envisions decreased income taxation and increase of the minimal monthly wage to 200 leva in the coming year. Pensions will increase by 10 per cent starting July 1.

Unemployment is set to decrease below eight per cent. The financial aid parents receive for each child will also go up.

Stanishev said that since the start of its term in office, BSP carried out a number of its election promises.

Serious policies, however, cannot produce results within two years, Stanishev said. The new strategy was drafted to improve communication with society and with BSP’s coalition partners, Dnevnik reported.