Ex Finance Minister: Bulgaria among EU's Three Least Indebted States

Bulgaria's former Finance Minister has pointed out Bulgaria's budget surplus as a positive anti-crisis policy measure. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's is among EU's three least indebted nations, according to the former Bulgarian Finance Minister and current MP, Milen Velchev.

At a public lecture on the global financial crisis in the southeast city of Burgas Thursday, Velchev pointed out Bulgaria's public debt was only about 15% of its GDP.

Bulgaria's Finance Minister in 2001-2005 also stressed that the country was doing better than many other states in the present crisis thanks to its prudent fiscal policy of maintaining a budget surplus in the recent years.

At present, Velchev is an MP from the centrist National Movement for Stability and Progress, the party led by Bulgaria's former Tsar, Simeon Saxe-Coburg, and is the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Budget Committee.