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Public lecture
17 July, 2003
On 17 July, 2003 Piritta Sorsa, Resident
Representative of the International Monetary
Fund to Bulgaria delivered a lecture at the Military
Academy "Georgi Rakovski". The event was organized by the Center
for the Study of Democracy and the Military Academy as part of the
series of lectures to senior staff from the Bulgarian security
forces on issues related to good governance and the new security
threats.
In her presentation Ms. Sorsa focused on the
Bulgarian economy and made prognosis about its short-, medium- and
long-term development.
In her opinion the economy is doing well. Low
personal incomes and small percentage of FDI (20% of GDP) will
represent the main problems for the economy in a long term. Ms.
Sorsa pointed out the key elements of a right economic policy:
- maintenance of macroeconomic stability (currency
board, prudent fiscal policy);
- continuation of structural reforms to increase
efficiency (business environment, privatization, energy sector and
public administration reform);
- restructuring of the economy;
- supporting social policies to cushion social impact
on reforms
She also highlighted the need to maintain a low
budget deficit and to rationalize the expenditure in the energy and
health systems. Structural reforms are still anticipated and it is
important to proceed with them because the delay could influence
the growth in a long term. NATO membership and EU enlargement
should always be taken into consideration because they will ensure
the development of specific areas which will, on their part,
influence the underdeveloped sectors of the economy.
In conclusion, Ms. Sorsa said that Bulgaria has made
a progress in economy but it should speed up structural reforms and
social policy. The role of the IMF is to consult the government
which takes all the decisions regarding the budget, she
underlined.
During the questions and answers session Ms. Sorsa
said that despite the commitment of the present and previous
governments the reforms are usually slower than expected. She is
convinced that the private sector will create new jobs, not the
public one. The fiscal reserve, although larger than the expected
foreign debt costs, should not be used in the real sector because
this will affect the fiscal one. The reserve is necessary to prove
Bulgaria's stability and to draw foreign investments, Ms. Sorsa
concluded.
See Ms. Sorsa's presentation "Economic Challenges of
Bulgaria" (Power Point Presentation)
Piritta Sorsa
Bio data
Before coming to Bulgaria Piritta Sorsa was the
resident representative of IMF in Honduras. She is doctor in
economics from the Geneva Institute for International Relations.
Before joining the IMF in 1994 she held positions at the World Bank
(1985-1988 and 1990-1994). From 1988 to 1990 she worked at the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). She
is author of a number of publications.
She was born in Finland.
See also:
Lecture of Roderick Moore at the Military
Academy
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