The global economic turmoil from 2008 inflicted permanent damage to EU economies and its impact is still strong. To address the problems and cope with the crisis, governments were forced to conduct anti-cyclical polic...The global economic turmoil from 2008 inflicted permanent damage to EU economies and its impact is still strong. To address the problems and cope with the crisis, governments were forced to conduct anti-cyclical policies in different forms. In most countries, this resulted in a widening budget deficit and mounting government debt. Then, a raft of measures to deal with fiscal instability followed, which, however, restricted growth and had high economic and social costs. Bulgaria was among the EU Member States that turned fiscal discipline into a priority and was one of the few to manage, at least seemingly, to achieve satisfying results. The benefits that the country reaped are indisputable but the price it had to pay was too high. Many private sector companies faced insolvency, unemployment hit record highs, and important structural reforms were delayed.展开更多
文摘The global economic turmoil from 2008 inflicted permanent damage to EU economies and its impact is still strong. To address the problems and cope with the crisis, governments were forced to conduct anti-cyclical policies in different forms. In most countries, this resulted in a widening budget deficit and mounting government debt. Then, a raft of measures to deal with fiscal instability followed, which, however, restricted growth and had high economic and social costs. Bulgaria was among the EU Member States that turned fiscal discipline into a priority and was one of the few to manage, at least seemingly, to achieve satisfying results. The benefits that the country reaped are indisputable but the price it had to pay was too high. Many private sector companies faced insolvency, unemployment hit record highs, and important structural reforms were delayed.