Bulgaria has taken many steps to modernise its economy
firstly to meet EU membership criteria and subsequently to
attract the levels of investment to help it compete with the rest of Europe.
Bulgaria now has quite a stable political,
economic and social climate and has done much to attract foreign investment.
The Buglarian currency, the Lev, is pegged to the Euro.
Bulgarian taxes have been reduced dramatically with corporation tax at just 10% and VAT at 20%.
Traditionally Bulgaria is quite a poor country by
EU average standards and its economy heavily based on agriculture and old heavy industy.
Nowadays the service sector is becoming an ever increasingly important part of the economy.
Sofia now has a new second terminal at its airport and the new Sofia Business Park has attracted many
international tennants such as Microsoft and HP.
We expect this growth in service based industries to increase in the coming years and be a large driver to the economy,
real wage growth and future economic growth.
Over the last few years GDP growth has been very healthy typically in the 5-7% range.
Inflation has been a little high though nothing too troublesome.
Unemployment nationally is still quite high around 8%, though in Sofia this figure is more like 2%.
The government has done well to keep its current account balance and spending in check (unlike neighbouring Romania).
Overall Bulgaria still has a long way to come to meet western
Europe economic standards however
the future economic outlook is bright for the country.
