site.btaEmployers Association Calls for Stronger Role of Business Community in Budget and Policy Debate

At a roundtable on the fiscal policy and economic vision of Bulgaria as a future eurozone member, held in Sofia on Friday, Ilia Krastev, rotating Chair of the Bulgarian Employers Association Innovative Technologies (BRAIT), said that the business community needs to exert more pressure, be proactive and maintain a constructive approach in the budgetary process. He stated that the private sector should take a more active part in the discussion on Bulgaria’s development and its sustainability within the euro area. The meeting was organized by BRAIT and the Institute for Market Economics (IME) and took place at the Hyatt Regency Sofia.

Krastev said that Bulgaria lacks a consistent and in-depth debate on the budget and the country’s economic development.

"We believe this does not happen often enough, nor in a constructive and coherent manner," he said. "In the current situation, business must be far more active, to propose and criticize specific policies and to explain them to society as a whole," the BRAIT Chair added.

Krastev noted that Friday’s roundtable on Bulgaria’s fiscal policy will not be an isolated event. BRAIT is preparing a series of debates in early 2026, where the association will present its views on reforms in the pension system, public-private partnerships and concessions, and healthcare.