In an open letter to Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Parliament speaker Georgi Pirinski, the Bulgarian Association of Industrial Capital (BAIC) said Bulgarian entrepreneurs would support an average salary of 557 leva as reasonable for teachers, given the current quality of education.

In the letter, BAIC expressed its concern over the continuing teachers' strike and the demanded 100 per cent salary increase, Focus news agency said.

BAIC represents over 1 200 Bulgarian entrepreneurs, with over 150 000 employees in total. It asked its members what average salary for teachers they would agree to pay taxes for, given the current quality of education.

An average salary of 550 leva would be agreed to by 32 per cent, 450 leva by 23 per cent and 650 leva by 14 per cent.

"Based on the results of the research, 557 leva as of 1 July 2008 would be a reasonable average monthly salary for teachers according to Bulgarian entrepreneurs, for which they would be willing to pay through taxes and other contributions to the budget," the letter said.

BAIC said it understood the desire of the teachers for higher salaries, but thinks that realistic possibilities of the macroeconomic framework should be taken into account, plus the fact that increases in quality of eduction through financial incentives could only be paid for out of increased taxes for businesses and individuals.

It would be necessary to take into account the relationship between salaries for teachers, those in the public sector and other sectors where salaries reached, depended on economic efficiency, the BAIC letter said.