Right-wing parliamentary opposition party Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) will put forward a set of measures aimed at mitigating the effect of the global economic downturn. The party urges for a two per cent cut in value-added tax, lowering social security contributions by two percentage points, a five per cent tax cut for sole proprietor companies and bigger tax rebates.

The measures will cut businesses' labour costs and protect jobs, according to DSB.

Employers, however, said the proposal would only have a marginal effect. "This is mere political maneuvering. It is businesses and the financial sector that need a helping hand at the moment, whereas the tax rebate is stretching a point in favour of trade unions," said Evgenii Ivanov, executive director of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria.

No value-added tax cuts could be considered at the moment as the system is not sound enough, according to Ivanov.

The proposals are made out of inertia and would not have any positive impact, said Parliament's budget committee deputy chairperson Aliosman Imamov, from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, one of the two junior partners in the three-way ruling coalition. Both the state and consumers should tighten their belts to weather the crisis, according to Imamov.

Meantime, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the senior partner in the coalition, has said that pensions should be increased from January 1 2009, rather than April 1, as envisioned by the draft Budget.

Source: Dnevnik