Bulgaria achieved some progress in 2017, but imbalances and vulnerabilities remain, according to the European Commission

The strong economic growth of Bulgaria and its sound fiscal position as of end-2017 represent an opportunity for structural reforms that could accelerate the catching up with the rest of the EU, according to European Commission’s Bulgaria 2018 Report, which assesses the progress on structural reforms and on prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances. The labour market has improved recently and the soundness of the financial sector improved too, despite remaining vulnerabilities. According to the report, Bulgaria has made good progress in addressing the 2017 country-specific recommendations, such as enhancing the tax collection and tax compliance, improving the enforcement measures to reduce the informal economy, enhancing the financial sector supervision, and ensuring efficient implementation of the 2014-2020 National Public Procurement Strategy. Regarding the progress in reaching the national targets under the Europe 2020 strategy, Bulgaria was announced to be already ahead in reaching its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the share of renewable energy. On the down side, the high private debt remains a concern and the reform of the insolvency framework continues. Limited progress was made in increasing the provision of quality mainstream education, in increasing health insurance coverage, in reducing out-of-pocket payments, in addressing shortages of healthcare professionals. What is more, structural challenges, such as shrinking working age population, and shortages of skills, persist; the social protection system is insufficient to tackle the significant social issues, and limited access to healthcare remains on the agenda.