Chair of Bulgarian Industrial Association Optimistic about GDP Growth in 2015

Bozhidar Danev, Chair of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), has described 2014 as a very difficult year for the Bulgarian economy.

In a Saturday interview for the BGNES news agency, Danev argued that 2014 had been a year of three governments, with each of them causing disturbances to the business environment in the country.

Danev claimed that the GDP growth could reach 1.4%, despite the numerous obstacles and difficulties which businesses had had to go through.

He expressed optimism about 2015, stressing that the collapse in crude oil prices, which was expected to cause prices of gas and hard coal to collapse, would be hugely beneficial to Bulgaria as the country was a major importer of energy resources.

The Chair of the BIA underscored that Bulgaria’s imports would be given a major boost as a result of the reduction in energy costs, taking into account that the products were mostly very energy-intensive.

He rejected allegations that the budget revenues would drop as a result of the VAT decrease, stressing that turnovers were expected to go up.

“Businesses believe that this will have a positive impact and if we manage to preserve legal stability and we refrain from drafting and adopting laws in 5 days, I expect 2015 to be a year of serious growth for the Bulgarian economy,” he stated.