site.btaVazrazhdane Proposes to Parliament to Invite Prominent Academics to Analyze Benefits and Disadvantages of Eurozone

Vazrazhdane proposes to the National Assembly to invite three world-famous professors to prepare an analysis of the benefits and negatives of the adoption the euro by Bulgaria, MP Viktor Papazov told journalists on Friday. Papazov said that all three are ready to prepare this analysis for free, as long as they are officially invited by the Bulgarian side.

He said that Vazrazhdane had submitted a proposal to the National Assembly to take a decision to invite Prof. Jacques de Larosiere - former governor of the Bank of France and member of the Delors Commission that created and introduced the euro, John Greenwood, father of the currency board in Hong Kong and Prof. Steve Hanke, father of several currency boards, including the Bulgarian one.

“We believe that joining the euro area without such serious analysis would lead to severe consequences that we cannot allow. As you have witnessed, the Bulgarian National Bank and the Ministry of Finance could not cope, and such a fateful decision for Bulgaria cannot be made in a rush without knowing what to anticipate,” Papazov added.

"We are yet to see whether the majority in this Parliament will rise to the level of the historic moment, because we state that it would be extremely irresponsible to take such a step without proper analysis. The three professors are willing to do that analysis for free, but they want and expect to be formally invited by state institutions," Papazov said.

In his words, it is expected that since the National Assembly adopts the decisions on joining the eurozone, then it should be the body to invite the professors.

"Both the public and MPs should know what we are throwing ourselves into, because at the moment what we are hearing are just propaganda cliches. Have any of you attended a debate where serious, professional, economists sat down and discussed specific positions? We only hear propaganda cliches in the media," the MP added. Papazov gave the example of alleged savings in transaction costs of between BGN 500 million and BGN 1 billion. "This is simply a lie. The truth is that there is an unofficial study by central bank experts, arriving at the modest amount of BGN 80 million and this is a one-off economy," the MP explained. “Is the Bulgarian state sovereignty worth BGN 80 million, because all the other invented advantages, in my opinion, are disadvantages,” added Papazov.