Bulgarian Finance Minister: CEE Economies Cope Best with Crisis

The euro will be stronger in one year's time, the Bulgarian Finance Minister said during the seventh Economic Forum at Bucharest. Photo by BGNES

The economies of the Central and Eastern European states are coping best of all with the economic crisis, stated Bulgarian Finance Minister Simeon Djankov at a forum in Bucharest, Romania.

Djankov was one of the speakers at the Central & Southeast European Financial Forum 2010 taking place in the Romanian capital on May 25-26.

“The economic crisis is a starting point for further reforms,” Simeon Djankov said during the seventh edition of the Bucharest finance forum adding he expected smooth recovery for the CEE economies.

He has disagreed with claims that the CEE economies are the most affected by the economic crisis.

“The performance of the CEE economies is actually the best in the current crisis. Poland is the only EU member state with positive economic growth during the crisis; Estonia is going to be the 17th member of the euro zone,” he said.

In his words, the economic crisis is a real opportunity for Bulgaria to start real reforms and a stable economic growth after the previous Bulgarian government tried to cover up much of the negative effects that the country's economy suffered after the crisis started in 2008.

“The euro will still be in place in one year's time, and is going to be even stronger then than it is now,” the Bulgarian Finance Minister and former senior World Bank economist said when asked about the future of the common EU currency.

The other participants in the Central & Southeast European Financial Forum 2010 in Bucharest included Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc and Finance Minister Sebastian Vladesku as well as top global economists such as Nouriel Roubini, Chairman of Roubini Global Economics, and Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University Professor and Nobel Prize Laureate for Economics.

More information about the Bucharest Finance Forum is available on its website HERE

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