site.btaVazrazhdane Claims Official Statistics Tilted in Favour of Eurozone Entry
Representatives of the Vazrazhdane party Monday protested in front of the building of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) against what they claimed was distortion of data ahead of Bulgaria's planned entry in the eurozone.
Sofia municipal councillor Deyan Nikolov called for greater transparency of data linked to joining the eurozone. He argued that the party had been denied access to information on the grounds that it was confidential.
"NSI refused to provide inflation-related data we needed to check the calculations," said Nikolov. He was referring to data on retail food pricing.
Meeting with the media inside the building, NSI President Atanas Atanasov said the Statistics Act bans the publication of such information. "NSI offers neither recommendations nor advice on eurozone entry," he said, adding that the law bans the release of data on individual retailers' prices, even if no names are named.
Vazrazhdane will keep seeking data on inflation, said Nikolov.
In late January, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said on National Radio that keeping Bulgaria out of the eurozone is his party's top priority. He threatened that if entry was secured by "fake data", his party would spearhead street protests, the people would storm Parliament and the Council of Ministers, and "we will set you on fire".
/RY/
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