Nenova, Mariella --- "Catching up and the growth factors – the state of play in Bulgaria" [2003] ELECD 110; in Tumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude; Mooslechner, Peter (eds), "Structural Challenges for Europe" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003)

Book Title: Structural Challenges for Europe

Editor(s): Tumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude; Mooslechner, Peter

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843764748

Section: Chapter 10

Section Title: Catching up and the growth factors – the state of play in Bulgaria

Author(s): Nenova, Mariella

Number of pages: 21

Extract:

10. Catching up and the growth factors
­ the state of play in Bulgaria
Mariella Nenova

1. INTRODUCTION

Few countries in the world have been able to manage a successful catching-
up process ­ Ireland is an example for the EU member states. The short
history of transition indicates that 12 years after the initial slump triggered
by the collapse of the communist system, not all countries have managed
to catch up even to their pre-transition levels. Obviously, to guide the
economy to and along the path of a rewarding real convergence process
requires very skilful management and a good economic policy mix.
Government policy should be aimed at uncovering the forces underpinning
strong real growth.
The ex-communist countries started EU membership negotiations at
different relative levels of income, which have not improved significantly
yet.
Table 10.1 shows that in the last five years three countries ­ the Czech
Republic, Romania and Slovakia ­ have fallen behind their 1997 positions,
one country ­ Bulgaria ­ has remained at the same level, and the other six
have moved upwards. The most successful country has been Latvia,
improving its position by 6 percentage points. The countries that have been
able to move forward have registered average growth rates exceeding those
of the EU by at least 2 percentage points (Figure 10.1).

Table 10.1 GDP per capita in PPS (EU-15 100)

Czech Slovak
Rep. Rep. Romania Bulgaria Lithuania Poland Slovenia Estonia Hungary Latvia

1997 62 49 26 28 35 37 66 38 47 ...