site.btaBusinesses in Bulgaria Grow More Optimistic about Year to Come

Sofia, November 15 (BTA) - Businesses in Bulgaria have grown more optimistic about the year to come and expect larger sales abroad and steady employment levels. Companies in this country are doing far better now than in the post-2009 survival period. The conclusions were drawn in a survey by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry among 602 companies in Bulgaria. It was conducted as part of the large-scale European Economic Survey 2018 involving over 50,000 businesses in 23 European countries.

About 63 per cent of respondents in Bulgaria expect the business climate in the country to improve in 2018, compared with 38 per cent of those polled a year ago about the coming year 2017. But employers still worry about the deficit of skilled workers and the uncertainties related to domestic economic demand. They fear that they will be unable to meet a potentially growing demand for their products and services, because if it does grow, they will have difficulty recruiting more workers with the necessary skills.

The pollsters also reported a continuing trend of increased optimism about exports, with nearly half of respondents expecting larger sales abroad in 2018. Although expectations about domestic sales are also rising, businesses still name insufficient domestic demand as their second-biggest obstacle. A possible increase in domestic demand is more likely to entail a rise in imports than a rise in local production, the experts said.

About 47 per cent of interviewees see good investment prospects in 2018. Employment levels are expected to stabilize and even go slightly up; a majority of 55 per cent of employers expect to preserve their current staff size.

The shortage of skilled labour is a problem not only in Bulgaria but also in Europe, where it has gone up from fourth place in 2016 to second place in 2017 on the list of perceived obstacles to business.