Editing Economy of Bulgaria (section)

===Rebound from the February 1997 crisis===
In April 1997, the [[Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria)|Union of Democratic Forces]] (SDS) won pre-term parliamentary [[Bulgarian parliamentary election, 1997|elections]] and introduced an IMF currency board system which succeeded in stabilizing the economy. The triple digit inflation of 1996 and 1997 has given way to an official [[economic growth]], but forecasters predicted accelerated growth over the next several years. The government's structural reform program includes:
# privatization and, where appropriate, liquidation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs);
# liberalization of agricultural policies, including creating conditions for the development of a land market;
# reform of the country's social insurance programs; and
# reforms to strengthen contract enforcement and fight crime and corruption.
Despite reforms, weak control over privatization led many successful state enterprises to bankruptcy. The SDS government also failed to stop the growing negative account balance, which has since then continued to increase, reaching a negative of $12.65 billion in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bnb.bg/bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_publication/publbnb_p_s_bop_20080812_en.pdf|title=BALANCE OF PAYMENTS OF BULGARIA January – June 2008 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bnb.bg/bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_publication/publbnb_p_s_bop_20080812_en.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=bnb.bg|access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref> The [[Sakskoburggotski Government|government]] elected in [[Bulgarian parliamentary election, 2001|2001]] pledged to maintain the fundamental economic policy objectives adopted by its predecessor in 1997, specifically: retaining the Currency Board, implementing sound financial policies, accelerating [[privatisation]], and pursuing structural reforms. Both governments failed to implement sound social policies.

The economy really took off between 2003 and 2008 and growth figures quickly shot up, fluctuating between figures as high as 6.6% (2004) and 5.0% (2003). Even in the last pre-crisis year, 2008, the Bulgarian economy was growing rapidly at 6.0%, despite significantly slowing down in the last quarter.<ref>{{cite web|agency=Associated Press |first=|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/19/business/EU-FIN-ECO-Bulgaria-Growth.php |title=Bulgaria's economy grew by 6.2 percent on year in 1Q - International Herald Tribune |publisher=Iht.com |access-date=2 January 2009}}</ref>