May 24 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said it expects Bulgaria to comply with the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact in 2018 and 2019 and advised the country to improve tax collection and the efficiency of public spending.
To fulfil that recommendation, Bulgaria needs to step up enforcement of measures to reduce the share of the informal economy and also to upgrade the state-owned enterprise corporate governance framework, the Commission said on Wednesday in country-specific recommendations, part of the European Semester 2018 Spring Package.
Moreover, Bulgaria needs to take follow-up measures resulting from the financial sector reviews and implement the supervisory action plans in order to strengthen the oversight and stability of the sector and ensure adequate valuation of assets, including bank collateral, by enhancing the appraisal and audit processes. The country should also complete the reform of the insolvency framework and promote a functioning secondary market for non-performing loans (NPLs), the Commission said.
The employability of disadvantaged groups by upskilling and strengthening activation measures should be increased, while the provision of quality inclusive mainstream education, particularly for Roma and other disadvantaged groups should be increased, the Commission recommended.
"In line with the National Health Strategy and its action plan, Bulgaria should improve access to health services, including by reducing out-of-pocket payments and addressing shortages of health professionals. Introduce a regular and transparent revision scheme for the minimum income and improve its coverage and adequacy."
Bulgaria submitted its 2018 National Reform Programme and its 2018 Convergence Programme on April 19. The National Reform Programme includes commitments both for the short and medium term and covers the challenges identified in the 2018 country report. In particular, it announces measures to strengthen banking and non-banking supervision, to improve the insolvency framework and to reduce remaining weaknesses identified in the 2016 stress tests exercises.
There are also measures to reinforce tax collection and tackle the shadow economy, to improve the targeting of active labour market policies, to increase social protection and to address various challenges in the healthcare and education sectors. Overall, the effective implementation of the National Reform Programme would underpin the correction of imbalances, the Commission said.
Bulgaria is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), a set of rules designed to ensure that countries in the European Union pursue sound public finances and coordinate their fiscal policies. In its 2018 Convergence Programme, the government, starting from a headline surplus of 0.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017, aims at a balanced budget in 2018 and a surplus of 0.3% of GDP in 2019, 0.5% in 2020 and 0.2% in 2021.