site.btaInflation Coming Down, Up to Government to Pursue Adequate Policies for 6-12 Months as It Aspires to Eurozone Entry - Economist

Bulgaria has been able to slow down inflation, according to Lachezar Bogdanov, chief economist at the Institute for Market Economics. In a Bulgarian National Radio interview Tuesday, he said that the increase of prices is slowing down considerably from what this country has seen over the last year, but some increases have proven more persistent.

"July and August saw an increase in energy prices, which will affect monthly inflation. The important thing is that on an annual basis inflation is coming down. In other words, if we look at how much prices have increased over a 12-month period, that change is much smaller now than it was in both the winter and the fall," Bogdanov argued.

"It seems to me that the cooling of prices is being maintained. We are indeed melting inflation, that is, it is falling at a faster pace here than in the richer and more developed euro area countries. The question is by how much?", Bogdanov said.

"Overall, the inflation rate is starting to fall. Prices are still not falling, for most goods, despite the drops here and there."

The question, according to Bogdanov, is whether the government has policies and measures to do something in the next 6-12 months in its aspiration to eurozone membership.