The elections have passed but uncertainty about the future after them remains. To the expectations for a regular cabinet with a longer work horizon, people also add the hope that the MPs will try to control inflation and to raise incomes. Before the start of winter Bulgarians are worried about the rising prices of food products and heating. Opinions vary and to a large extent they are determined by the wide social divide between elderly people with low pensions and young people with much higher incomes. This is what citizens say about the situation in the country:

"People feel tension. I can feel it too in terms of incomes, prices and the great gap between the two," a middle-aged man tells BNR’s "Hristo Botev" program.

"My concerns are inflation and the rise in household bills that we see," a citizen from Sofia adds.

"I am mostly worried about the children; I have two," a woman says. “One is 20 years old, the other is 9, and what is happening is definitely worrying. It's happening very quickly and we don't have time to prepare."

"We are worried because of this rapid rise in prices, this instability, for example in the price of electricity. These are all things that do not depend on us," a pensioner says in the radio poll.

Citizens, as well as small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in this country, just like the owners of small businesses in the village of Shiroko Pole near Kardzhali, express fear of losing their jobs and not being able to pay their bills.

"Both people and businesses have shrunk their spending. After 24 years in the grocery store business, we are considering closing it. Almost every day products have higher prices. Our turnover has not fallen, but our expenses have increased dramatically," Sevgyul Kadir says. "I have to pay 1000 euros for electricity a month and I also need to earn something for my children but this has become difficult. People buy mostly bread, as cheese and salami are luxuries.''

For the survival of small and medium-sized businesses in the conditions of constantly rising inflation, urgent recovery measures are necessary, chair of the board of the Union for Private Economic Enterprise, Vaska Baklarova, has told the BNR.

"Small and medium-sized businesses are dying. Large enterprises and production facilities that require significant amounts of electricity face even greater risk. In Bulgaria, thanks to the social measures, the situation has been contained for the moment but we cannot say what would happen in January and how many of our members would face the dilemma of continuing or suspending their business."

Economist Lachezar Bogdanov is optimistic that inflation at the current levels will continue for not more than a month or two. According to him, there are two factors that will affect its curbing:

"The first is the shock in Europe from the tenfold rise in the price of natural gas. The second factor is that central banks have started to tighten the conditions for access to loans, which means money will become more expensive and this will have an effect on economic activity."

In such a moment, it is reasonable to think if joining the Eurozone on January 1, 2024 is achievable. In an interview with BNR, Professor Jeffrey Nilsen - a member of the Expert Economic Council that was presented a few days ago by Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov, said that Bulgaria should join the Eurozone in order to participate in decision-making when it comes to the monetary policy of the European Central Bank, but didn't rule out some turbulence along the way. Although we are still far away from the storm in the global economy the International Monetary Fund warned about at its annual meetings with representatives of the World Bank, the professor says inflation in this country is surprisingly high:

"I was surprised by the statistic data showing the annual inflation was 17.7% in August. This is well above the average rise in the Eurozone and in the United States. The sharp rise in prices is indeed a storm."

When it comes to the opinion of financial experts that the best way to fight high inflation was recession, Nilsen said:

“This is the main method used by central banks to control inflation in the past. Here, however, we must remember that the main factor behind inflation is high energy prices. If an agreement is reached on the issue of Russia's war in Ukraine, it will certainly reduce inflationary pressures on the energy sector. However, the possibility of seeing such a development does not seem too great now.”

Compiled by: Yoan Kolev

English version: Al. Markov

Photos: BGNES